To The Death
by jadewtch
Summary: Life, Death, Insanity, and Love, everything you'd want in a story and more. AU OOC Harry/Draco H/D HPDM Slash
1. First Step into the Unknown

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To the Death

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**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to J.K. Rowling

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**Summary:** Forced into a game for Voldemort's amusement the students will have to play to survive. Bravery, loyalty, intelligence, and cunning are put to the test when the stakes turn out to be worse than anyone could imagine. Some Character Death, Harry/Draco Slash

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**Warning:** This story has boy-on-boy action. If this is not your cup of tea, don't read it. You Have Been Warned.

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**A/N #1:** I'm going to be posting these chapters As-I-Write, instead of after the whole story is done, so I probably won't manage weekly updates like I do with my other work.

**A/N #2:**This story is loosely based on a Manga/Movie called Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami. I highly recommend it whether you like this story or not.

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Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking down the corridor to charms when Draco Malfoy's voice echoed behind them.

"Oh look its Potty and his little friends," he sneered looking at Ron and Hermione.

"Piss off Malfoy," said Harry.

"Original, Potter. Maybe if you'd decided to be friends with me first year you'd be able to come up with some better insults," he looked down his nose at them. "Malfoys are superior after all, not that you're intelligent enough to realize that."

"Superior snots maybe," Ron said pointing his wand at Malfoy.

"Just ignore him Ron," said Hermione from behind him, and grabbing his arm. "You know what he's like."

"He deserves it Mione."

Malfoy glared at Ron, and turned back to Harry without giving him second thought, irritating the redhead even more.

"I challenge you to a duel Potter. Tonight at midnight by the lake."

He heard Pansy gasp behind him and take hold of his arm. He yanked his arm away and kept his eyes on his enemy.

"Fine Malfoy, I accept," he smirked at the other boy. "It'll enjoy beating you…again. Unless you chicken out of course," he said reminding Malfoy of the last duel they had snuck out for.

"Oh I'll be there Potter, but if I win I want to see you kneeling in front of me in the great hall, and telling everyone that I'm superior."

Harry grinned. "Is that all? Are you sure you don't want me to suck you off while I'm down there Malfoy?" He was pleased when he watched Malfoy flush and look away for a moment. He had found so many new ways to irritate the blonde ever since he had come out at the beginning of the year. A simple touch here and there made Malfoy flinch and jump, and Harry would laugh as he walked the rest of the way to class.

"Don't involve me in your disgusting fantasies Potter. So do we have a deal?"

"Yes, but if I win you have to apologize to Ron and Hermione in the great hall for the way you've treated them."

"That will never happen, Potty," he said and walked back to the dungeons.

The trio walked back to Gryffindor Tower, and Hermione lectured all the way.

"Harry, you know what happened last time. This is a really bad idea. Do you know how many detentions you'd get if you were caught?"

"Hermione, don't worry. We have the cloak in case anything happens." He looked over at Ron to see how he was taking all this.

"I don't trust him, but this would be a great way to get back at the ferret." Ron was silent for a moment. "We should go. It would be great to watch him apologize in front of everyone."

"Fine, but leave me out of it," said Hermione. "I'm staying right here."

Ron rolled his eyes at Harry who grinned back at him. Their friend had no sense of adventure.

Down in the dungeons a similar conversation was taking place.

"Draco," Pansy was saying. "You can't be serious. Even Professor Snape would have you scrubbing out cauldrons for a month for doing something so stupid. A duel with the Gryffindors? Tell me this is some sort of plan to get them caught."

He gave an evil smirk. "I plan to leave a note for Severus, but I still need to show up to keep them there. I can stall until he shows up, and then hide in the forest until they leave."

"This is a really bad idea Dray."

"Does that mean you're staying here?"

"And leave you alone with three Gryffindorks? No way."

"Thanks Pans, you're a great friend."

She smiled somewhat sadly at this. Pansy had hinted at her attraction to Draco a few times last year, but he was oblivious. She watched him discretely after that and came to the conclusion that he preferred boys. He'd get so angry when she joked about it that she was sure it was true. Draco had himself buried so deeply in denial that it would take a regiment of house elves to dig him out.

Harry paced back and forth up in his dorm. He went over all of Hermione's objections in his head. She was right that Malfoy was up to something. When wasn't he up to something? Getting caught by someone like Snape was the real danger in his opinion. He wouldn't put it past the Slytherin to let a teacher know about their duel like he had before. He was more than a match for Malfoy, and the other boy knew it.

Ron wanted to go and make Malfoy eat his words. He understood his best friend's feelings about this. Malfoy always had a sneer or nasty comment on hand for Ron. Hermione didn't care that much about the name calling, feeling it was below her. Harry decided that he and Ron would meet Malfoy at the lake, but they would take the cloak and wait for a few minutes to make sure that no one else arrived unexpectedly.

During dinner the heads of each house announced that everyone was to stay in their dorms tonight. Ron grinned at Harry mischievously. Harry smiled back knowing that they would sneak out anyway. It wasn't the first time. Hermione had seen Ron's grin and they resigned themselves to a lecture from the bushy haired girl.

Draco heard the announcement and he was tempted to stay in his dorms. Since the professors insisted on it he thought it might be best to put off his plans. As a Slytherin he had his personal safety in the forefront of his mind. His emotions must have shown on his face, because Weasel walked past him making a clucking noise and laughing. Anger clouded his features, and he clenched his fists. He would be there, if for no other reason than to put Weasel in his place.

The Slytherin snuck into the potions classroom before curfew, and put a note on Snape's desk that explained what was going to happen that night. He gave a time and requested that his head of house check it out.

Snape was making sure that everyone in his house listened to him and stayed in the dorm tonight. Stupid brats, he thought. I can almost guarantee that one of them will sneak out. They have no idea how important this is.

"And if I see any of you going past this doorway, you'll be wishing I had you scrubbing cauldrons for a month!!"

By the time he ended his tirade everyone was nodding their heads in agreement, and the first years were cowering on the floor. He turned and stalked out the door, his robes billowing behind him.

He went straight to his rooms, and locked the door. A gust of wind from the door blew Draco's note under the potions cabinet, and he never saw it.

Harry and Ron crouched behind Hagrid's hut and watched Malfoy pace on the shore of the lake. They had been watching for five minutes already, and no one else seemed to be coming.

"Come on Harry," Ron was saying. "If we don't go now he'll leave!"

"Shh! Not so loud. Ok, let's pull of the cloak and walk over like we're just getting here."

The duo appeared from behind Hagrid's hut and Harry whispered the spell to shrink his cloak, as he stuffed it into his pocket.

"About time you got here Potter," Malfoy sneered. "But then you never did have any manners did you?"

Malfoy seemed to be looking nervously at the castle. Harry looked over, but he didn't see anything.

"Expecting someone Malfoy?" he asked. "I should have known you were too much of a coward to take me on."

Draco bristled, and gave Harry his best glare.

"So let's start this thing, shall we?" said Harry.

Pansy spoke up then. "Wait. How are we doing this?"

"I'll be Harry's second," said Ron. "I guess you're here for the ferret, right Parkinson?" He gave a nod toward Malfoy.

"First blood ok with you?" she asked.

Ron and Harry glanced at each other and nodded.

"Shake hands and step back ten paces," said Pansy.

The two boys glared at each other and gripped each other's hand so tightly that Harry had to keep from wincing painfully. Just as they were about to step back a dozen stunning spells flew out of the forest striking them all down.

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Please Review!

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	2. Out of this World

**To the Death**

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to J.K. Rowling

**Summary:** Forced into a game for Voldemort's amusement the students will have to play to survive. Bravery, loyalty, intelligence, and cunning are put to the test when the stakes turn out to be worse than anyone could imagine. Some Minor Character Death, Harry/Draco Slash

**Warning:** This story has boy-on-boy action. If this is not your cup of tea, don't read it. You Have Been Warned.

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**A/N :**This story is loosely based on a Manga/Movie called Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami. I highly recommend it whether you like this story or not.

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**Chapter 2**

Harry woke and sat up. He was lying on the floor, and surrounded by his classmates. Looking around he realized that everyone here was from his year. He also noticed that all the Slytherins were mysteriously absent, except for Malfoy and Pansy who must have gotten caught with them during the duel. Ron groaned next to him and Harry shook him gently.

"Wake up sleepyhead," he joked.

"Nnnrgh," he mumbled. He wasn't at his best in the morning. As his mind cleared he noticed where he was. "Harry, what's going on?"

"I don't know, but everyone here seems to be a sixth year. I don't know if anything happened to the others."

"I don't see any of the Slytherins," Ron commented.

"Yeah I noticed that. I think Malfoy and Parkinson are the only ones, and that's because they were with us."

"This must have something to do with You Know Who. I bet those slimy snakes let him into Hogwarts, and that's why they aren't here." Ron looked around the room. "Hey Harry, does that door open?"

Harry looked over. "I haven't tried it yet. I was worried I'd step on someone. Let's see if we can wake everyone."

Malfoy was lying right next to Harry, and for a moment the boy was tempted to step on him and move to the next person over. Thinking about it, he decided it was exactly what Malfoy would do. That alone, made him decide against it.

Malfoy looked so peaceful lying there. He looks like an angel, Harry thought. Too bad he's such a bastard when he's awake. He shook the boy gently. The Slytherin sat up so quickly Harry couldn't react, and his forehead slammed against Harry's.

"Ow!" said Harry holding one hand to his forehead

Malfoy was looking around at the room. Only a few people had woken and Ron was off to one side of the room shaking a Hufflepuff.

"Potter, what the hell is going on? Where are we?" He searched in his robes frantically. "Where's my wand? What have you gotten me into?" He snarled and knocked the Gryffindor to the ground. He was about to punch him when Harry said, "That's not going to get you any answers Malfoy." He shoved the blonde off harshly. "But to answer your questions, I don't know what's going on. I don't know where we are. I don't have my wand either. I don't think anyone does, and lastly I didn't have anything to do with whatever this is." He gestured with one hand at the sleeping bodies on the floor. "The only thing I can tell you is that none of your Slytherin roommates seem to be here with us."

"See I knew this was your fault!" Malfoy yelled. "We were caught during that stupid duel!"

"That stupid duel was your idea. So don't go blaming me for this."

The rest of the room was on their feet around them. Malfoy got up and went over to the corner where Pansy was standing. Quite a few people glared at her with a hostile look in their eyes. When he got there the glare intensified. Bristling Malfoy got ready to defend himself and Pansy, knowing that it was hopeless. Then he heard Potter's voice rise up above the mumbling of the crowd.

Harry walked over to Ron. "Did you get a chance to try the door?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't get it to open. Hermione thinks that it's probably heavily warded.

"You can't even get close enough to touch the door with your hands," she said. "Have either of you seen Lavender? I can't find her."

Harry looked around at everyone. The room was big enough for them all to fit, but it was still close quarters. Hermione was right. Lavender wasn't there, and neither was Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw. Surprisingly he did notice Theodore Nott off by himself in one corner. Apparently some of the Slytherins did end up in the room. Maybe whoever did this had some sort of list? His eyes wandered to one corner, and he saw that Malfoy and Parkinson were having some trouble. They probably deserve it, he thought, but it's not going to help us.

"Ok, everyone, listen up," he said over the crowd. "It looks like we're stuck in here, so if we want to get out we're going to have to learn to get along. That means all of us," he emphasized, and gave the Slytherins a pointed glance.

"They were probably the ones that got us here in the first place!" yelled one of the Ravenclaws, and the whole room burst out in shouts of agreement.

Harry waited for the noise to die down a bit and then he yelled, "STOP!"

Everyone looked back at him, and he continued, "When I said that we're all in this together I meant ALL of us, including Malfoy, Parkinson and Nott. We have to work together or we don't have a chance in hell of getting out of here."

"But we can't trust them!" a voice yelled out.

Before others could join in Harry asked, "What makes you think I can trust you?"

"B-but I'm a Hufflepuff," the person stuttered out.

"So?" Harry asked flatly.

The boy shook his head and didn't say anything else.

"Ok, so as I was saying," he continued. "Since we can't seem to get out right now I suggest you take the time to get to know each other. And I don't mean the people in your own house. I'm sure you know them perfectly well already."

Harry walked over to Luna Lovegood, and asked her if she'd like to come with him and get a group together. The two of them picked up Justin Finch-Fletchley along with Mafoy and Parkinson. No one else seemed to want the two and they were being completely ostracized. Seeing this Harry sighed, shook his head and went over to get them. Nott, at least, had managed to sit with a few of his friends in Ravenclaw.

Everyone managed to get along. Well, there were one or two arguments, but nothing major. Hermione glanced over, letting Harry know that she'd keep Ron as far from Malfoy as she could. They all seemed to be trying. After about a half an hour Harry was thinking that they; better be getting some food, or at least a bathroom soon or there would be trouble. A shaking grinding noise had them looking at each other. Most were looking very nervous and apprehensive.

A man stood on a podium behind the wall. He was wearing a black cloak. The hood was pulled over his face, but Harry knew it wasn't Voldemort. As soon as Malfoy saw him he ran forward and started complaining.

"I don't belong here," he told the man. There was a ward that wouldn't allow him near the podium, but he got as close as possible and began to hit the wards with his hands. "Get me out of here now or my father will hear about this. He won't appreciate his heir being treated this way," he was yelling.

"And who might you be?" asked the man, who didn't seem to recognize any of them.

"I'm Draco Malfoy of course! Do you live under a rock? My family is the richest and most powerful in England. You better let me go or…"

"Well you're not in England," he said. "Ok, now listen up. I'm only going to say this once so pay attention…"

"How dare you! My father has connections! He'll hear about this and then you'll be sorry." Malfoy continued angrily demanding that they release him. "I'll have you know…" he started, but that was as far as he got because the man hit Malfoy with a stunner. He fell back, and hit the floor because everyone was too shocked at the action to catch him.

"Someone should have done that years ago," Ron said to Harry, who had made his way through the crowd to stand by his best friends.

"Right, so as I was saying you're all standing on a small island in the Mediterranean. The location is unknown and unplottable so don't think anyone will find you in time…"

"In time for what?" Hermione whispered to Harry.

He only shrugged, and kept listening.

"…You've all been brought here to provide some entertainment for The Dark Lord. I'm sure you can understand how tiring working day in and day out can be, so you've been the lucky ones chosen to fix that…"

"Yeah so lucky," Ron whispered while quite a few people in the room shuddered. Harry didn't want to know what they were thinking.

"…You're all going to be released onto the island. Again escape is impossible. The whole island is circled by wards, and no one has ever found it without being invited. You've all been given a potion that will kill you in three days…"

Gasps spread across the room.

"…We have one antidote," He picked it up, and shook the bottle invitingly. "It'll go to the person left alive after three days time. If there is more than one of you left alive then you'll all die, so there's no point in being honorable or gallant and trying to get out of this together. Since none of you have your wands you'll find plenty of muggle weapons scattered around the island. Feel free to be inventive. Enjoy your stay, and please exit through the side door."

The podium disappeared, as the wall slid closed. Once it was shut the wards around the door fell. Some ran for the door, trying to find out if it was true. Harry, Hermione, and Ron stayed inside. Malfoy was still lying on the floor. Parkinson was trying to revive him without much luck.

"He doesn't even know what's going on," whispered Hermione.

"So what?" said Ron. "Let's go and leave the ferret here."

Harry was one step from leaving when he paused.

"Harry?" Ron was saying.

"It's not right, Ron. He doesn't even know what happened."

"But Harry," he said. "He's got Parkinson to help him. Let her take care of it."

Harry walked over to where Malfoy was lying. Pansy was unsuccessfully trying to lift him off the floor. Harry place a hand over him, but nothing happened.

"Dampeners," he murmured. "Safety precaution on the room."

"Help me get him outside guys."

The four of them finally managed to carry him out. Harry and Ron held onto his arms, and Pansy and Hermione each grabbed a leg.

"You're a heavy bastard for a seeker, Malfoy," gasped Harry when they finally dropped him on the grass outside. He knelt down beside him. "Finite," he whispered, and Malfoy's eyes snapped open.

"What the hell Potter? How come I'm always waking up with you next to me? Why don't you piss off!"

"You're welcome Malfoy," he turned to Pansy. "Why don't you fill him in Parkinson?"

The golden trio walked away. They stopped at an outcropping of rocks that provided some protection. No one else was around.

"Everyone's gone," Hermione said. "I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not."

"Half are probably running for shelter, while the other half is doing whatever necessary to get out of this alive. That doesn't give us good odds," said Harry, his mind turning over the chances of escape.

"I'm sure we can find a way out of this if we just think about it," she said.

"No books here Mione," joked Ron. "You've got to do this without an instruction manual."

Harry laughed, and then his expression turned serious. "It's all or nothing," he said. "I'm not going to see any of you die because of this stupid game."

"Are you sure Harry?" asked Ron. "You're the Boy Who Lived. We need you to survive even if no one else does. How else are you going to defeat Voldemort?"

"Ron, do you really think they'll let me get off the island alive if I win?" Harry said seriously.

"Maybe," he said, and Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "Ok, probably not."

"I think that Voldemort is probably having a great time watching us run around with no idea what to do, and killing off our allies in the process."

"He has one other advantage in this situation Harry," Hermione said softly. "If all of your friends are dead, you won't have much enthusiasm to fight him and win."

Then they heard a loud scream come from behind them.

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	3. Reality Strikes

To the Death

To the Death

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to J.K. Rowling

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**Summary:** Forced into a game for Voldemort's amusement the students will have to play to survive. Bravery, loyalty, intelligence, and cunning are put to the test when the stakes turn out to be worse than anyone could imagine. Some Minor Character Death, Harry/Draco Slash

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**Warning:** This story has boy-on-boy action. If this is not your cup of tea, don't read it. You Have Been Warned.

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**Chapter 3**

The trio ran towards the trees and bushes planted around their starting point. Harry wondered momentarily that it might be better to be cautious since none of them had a weapon, but he was a Gryffindor so the three of them rushed forward bravely. Harry hoped to put a stop to the fight altogether, and get all of them to work toward a solution.

"What's going on?" he gasped out when they reached the starting point. Looking over he saw Draco Malfoy pacing back and forth and swearing while Pansy did her best to calm him.

"What the hell was that scream about?" Harry asked once more.

Pansy looked over at Harry. "I explained our situation," she said shortly.

Harry nodded trying to hide a smile. The situation was very frightening, but thought of Malfoy screaming like a girl when he found out was too funny.

"YOU!" Malfoy said when he saw Harry standing there. "I knew this was all your fault! I suppose you want us all to die for you, so their precious Golden Boy can survive," he sneered.

Ron and Hermione stepped forward angrily, but Harry shook his head slightly, and they paused. Even if Malfoy was a stuck up snot with an ego bigger than England, he wasn't completely stupid. If they wanted to get out of here they could use his help.

"I'll kill you all with my bare hands!" he yelled and ripped his arm away from Pansy's grasp as he ran toward Harry.

Harry stepped forward and slapped Draco harshly across the cheek before the blonde could reach him. He really wasn't very good at physical fights, Harry thought. It left a bright red mark, and made Malfoy pause as he rubbed his fingers over the stinging mark.

"Don't be a fool Malfoy," Harry said. "Do you think for a minute that if I lived Voldemort would just say, 'Congratulations for surviving Potter. I'll see you again when you come back to kill me.' We need to work together to get out of here alive."

"Like I'd ever work together with you Potter," sneered Draco.

"Suit yourself," Harry said, and the three of them walked away.

"Draco, are you sure you should have done that?" Pansy asked watching the Golden Trio walked away.

"We'll get through this on our own Pans. I don't need help from anyone, especially not Harry fucking Potter," he growled. He wasn't about to join forces with a Gryffindor of all people. He went back to complaining about the unfairness of it all.

Unfortunately his scream had attracted more attention than he had originally thought. He was unprepared when a rock flew out of the bushes and hit his shoulder. It wasn't a very big rock, but it hurt nonetheless. Looking in the direction it had come from he couldn't see anything.

"Coward!" he yelled, his eyes searching for any hint of movement. "Why don't you come out here and fight me face to face like a man."

"Like you're one to talk Malfoy," said a voice he didn't recognize. "You're the biggest coward of them all, always depending on Daddy Dearest to get you out of trouble." Another rock flew out and hit his hip. Pansy picked up the fist sized stone and flung it back in the direction it had come from. The shrubbery was hiding their assailant from sight, so aiming was a best-guess situation. Draco picked the first rock off the ground, and threw it in the same direction. A yell from the trees announced that it had met his target. The battle began in earnest. Both sides' flung rocks back and forth with the intent to hurt if not kill their opponent. However the person in the woods had the advantage of ground cover, and both Draco and Pansy could tell they were losing.

Draco tried not to look down at himself, but he could feel at least a dozen places where bruises were forming. Then a rock came out of the woods, and hit him in the head hard enough for him to pass out. Pansy threw another back with a yell, sparing a moment to look worriedly at her friend. Fortunately the fight had been anything but quiet, and it brought Harry, Ron and Hermione running back to the clearing. Seeing them coming Pansy heard "Later" whispered into the air accompanied by the rustling of leaves that signified the attackers departure.

"Malfoy, what the hell is going on now?" Ron yelled as they ran into the clearing. He clearly wasn't happy about having to return. "Shit..."

"Pansy, what happened?" asked Harry, taking charge of the situation. Pansy raised her eyebrows at his use of her first name. Harry noticed and said, "We're fighting for our lives here. It seems silly not to be on a first name basis."

She nodded. "Right after you left, someone started throwing rocks at us. I don't know who it was because they hid in those bushes and trees over there. We were losing because we couldn't see where the person was, but their shots were dead on. Then Dray was hit. It got him in the head, and it must have been hard because he passed out."

Harry nodded. "We need to get away from here." He looked at Ron. "Do you think you could lift him?"

"Malfoy?" he said in disbelief. "Why…?" he started, but then he saw the look that both Harry and Hermione were giving him. "Fine," he huffed. Picking up the unconscious boy they went to find a safer place to stay.

"If he wakes up, I'm dropping him," Ron said as they left.

He didn't wake.

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	4. Unwilling Collaboration

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**Chapter 4**

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Ron dropped Malfoy rather carelessly on the ground behind the rocks where they had paused earlier. Harry and Pansy were looking down at the reddening lump on Malfoy's forehead.

"He's going to have one hell of a headache," said Harry with some concern. If Malfoy had a concussion, the situation could get pretty serious.

While he was thinking this Pansy said, "We don't even have any potions. I used to carry a few handy ones in my cloak, but they were all removed."

"We can just leave him here," said Ron, which earned him a glare from the other three in the party. Pansy got to her feet, and started toward Ron, but Hermione had been closer, and started to lecture him about treating others with compassion. He insisted that it was just Malfoy, but Hermione kept on lecturing, until he tuned her out.

Harry was still sitting by Malfoy, and he called Pansy over. "I think the back of his head might be bleeding as well. The ground was rocky and hard. If you could put his head in your lap to cushion it, and I'll try to wake him."

Pansy nodded, and with Harry's help she shifted Malfoy so that his head was lying in her lap. Ron and Hermione watched the exchange. Ron stared at Harry as if he had grown another head. His best friend was actually trying to help the ferret, of all people. Maybe Harry had gotten hit in the head at some point as well. Hermione on the other hand was just watching in concern, and sat down by Pansy, offering help if it was needed.

"Damn it Malfoy, you're a nuisance even when you're unconscious," grumbled Harry, not unkindly. "Here goes," he said, and shook one shoulder gently. An unintelligible mumble came from the unconscious boy and he tried to move out of Harry's grip. He shook him once more a bit harder. Stormy grey eyes opened, and Harry saw that they were full of pain.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

It was a good indication of how bad things really were when Malfoy didn't bother to respond with a hateful comment and simply whimpered. "Hurts," he mumbled softly.

"Do you feel dizzy at all? Nauseous?" Harry turned to Pansy. "Help me sit him up."

"Dizzy," said Malfoy once he was sitting. He had replied in that same whispered tone. Loud noise made the elephants in his head louder. He tried to focus, but it wasn't working. He saw a flash of red hair to his left. Weasley, he thought. He must be just thrilled to see me like this. Pansy, he knew was behind him, and Potter it seemed was at his side. Granger was hovering behind them like an anxious parent, and it was making him even dizzier. Cautiously he raised one hand and brought it up to his forehead. A large bump was forming there, and he winced when he touched it. He could feel something sticky on the back of his head as well, and realized that he must have hit it on the ground.

Harry watched Malfoy try to pull himself together. "For crying out loud Mione, sit down already," he said, and watched Malfoy relax slightly. "Malfoy, how many fingers," he asked raising two, and then repeating the question when the blonde didn't respond.

"Four," said Malfoy in a hoarse whisper. He missed the concerned look that Harry shot at Pansy, opting to escape the pain in sleep, and then Potter was shaking him again. "Nnngrh….g'way Pott…" he mumbled, and tried to go back to sleep.

"You can't sleep Malfoy. You've got a concussion. You might not wake back up."

"So what?" he asked, and attempted to go back to sleep.

"Dray, you wouldn't actually leave me here all alone with these Gryffindors, would you?" said Pansy and winked at Harry.

Hermione ripped a length of cloth from the bottom of her robes, and handed it to Ron. "Go soak that in some water," she told him, adding, "Be careful."

Ron came back fairly quickly with a soaking wet piece of cloth. He handed it to Harry, who put it gently to the back of Malfoy's head. The other boy winced as Harry pressed it to the wound gently, trying to remove the blood. Once most of the blood was gone, Harry got a good look at the wound. It was fairly bad. Pansy had gasped when she first saw it, and pulled Malfoy to herself tightly.

"Shit," Harry swore. "I'm going to try something, ok?" he looked at Pansy for approval.

Nodding, she gave her permission.

"I hope no one is monitoring this shit," he said worriedly, and placed one hand on Draco's forehead, and the other on the cut in the back. Ignoring the pained look that the other boy gave him, he whispered a healing spell.

Draco sighed in relief. A slight headache was still remained, but he was feeling much, much, better.

"Thank you," said Malfoy, too grateful for the healing to really register what had happened. Pansy on the other hand was staring at him in shock.

"You can do wandless magic?" she asked. Hermione and Ron were unaffected by his show of strength. They knew all about his wandless training.

"Er…yes, but healing Malfoy was probably the strongest spell I've ever done. He's lucky I didn't turn his head into a turnip. Not that anyone would have noticed," he grinned.

"Fuck you Potter," said Malfoy, back to his usual self now that he was better. "Only you would be stupid enough to cast a spell on someone else without knowing if you could."

"Fine," Harry said shortly. "Next time I'll leave you as you were."

Malfoy remembered how much he had been hurting. It had been so bad that dying seemed easier. Relenting slightly, he pointed out, "Next time you'll know you can do it."

Taking this as the best apology he was going to get, he smiled slightly at Malfoy. "Pansy, can you get the blood off the back of Malfoy's robes?" he asked, handing over the damp cloth.

She lifted the messy rag. "Not with this." Blood was soaked into the material.

Ron spoke up, "I'll go clean it. I know where the river is."

"Thanks Ron," said Harry.

At the same moment, Malfoy opened his mouth, and said, "Yeah Weasel, I'm sure you know all about menial labor." He was fairly surprised when they all glared at him, and Pansy slapped the back of his head in warning.

"Don't make me hit you and undo all that hard work Malfoy," said Harry tersely.

Malfoy opened his mouth to give some jeering reply, and closed it again. Then something else occurred to him. "Since when have you called Pansy by her given name, Potter?"

Pansy explained, "If we're going to try and survive this mess we need to work together, not bicker about stupid things like names and house rivalries."

"Don't think I'll be calling you by your first name anytime soon, Potter."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Malfoy," Harry replied amused.

Ron came back with the rag. It was cleaned until there were only pink stains on the fabric. Hermione took it from him, and handed it to Pansy.

"I don't think you'll be able to get much of it out," she said, looking at it critically.

Pansy started dabbing at the worst spots. "I think you're right, but I should be able to get the worst of it. Stop moving Dray!"

Malfoy was twisting side to side in an attempt to see the back of his robes. "I can't believe this!" he complained. "The assholes who stuck us here are going to be sorry. These were some of my best robes!"

"Malfoy, you're so gay," snickered Ron.

"Take that back Weasel," Draco snarled, and moved toward Ron. Harry and Pansy nearly had to sit on him, to hold him still, and he swore at them the whole time.

"You know what they say it means when people who protest too much, don't you?" Ron said, making Malfoy even more furious. "Oh, my robes, my hair!" said Ron, mimicking him.

"Ron!" Harry yelled angrily. "For god's sake, stop antagonizing him!" He was straddling Malfoy's waist in an attempt to keep him from throwing himself at Ron and beating him into a pulp. Pansy was trying to hold his hands down, but he kept pulling them out of her grasp. It was only when Hermione came over to help, were they able to keep him still.

Ron was standing off to the side with a smirk on his face, looking utterly pleased with himself.

"Was that really necessary?" Harry asked his best friend. "We aren't children anymore."

"But Harry," Ron said unbelievingly. "It's Malfoy. You can't seriously think that he's going to be anything but a complete bastard through all this. You know what he's like."

"Just please try to get along, Ron," said Harry desperately hoping that they could learn to work together. Ron and Malfoy would be the worst of the lot. The antagonism went back generations.

"Sorry Malfoy," Ron finally managed in a tone that implied he wasn't sorry at all.

Harry turned to Malfoy, who was still trying to get out from under him. "Show us how generous you can be and accept the apology, Malfoy."

When Harry's eyes made contact with his own, Malfoy realized that all the wiggling had caused a not entirely unwelcome reaction. Blushing profusely, he hoped that Potter hadn't noticed. Trying to hang on to his composure, he grudgingly replied, "Apology accepted Weasely." Draco held himself very still to lessen any contact. "Want to get off now Potter?"

"What, in front of all these people?" grinned Harry, his voice full of sexual innuendo.

Draco blushed once more, and looked away. Apparently Harry had noticed. However, he climbed off without another word, making sure to rumple Draco's robes in such a way that his erection wasn't noticeable, and Draco was grateful. Maybe Potter wasn't so bad after all. The Gryffindor had healed his concussion, and had even seemed to be concerned about him. Then he thought about it. That spell could have ended with dozens of different results, all of them bad. Potter was probably hoping to get rid of him for good, and now that it had actually worked he would just use him for some twisted plan of his own. There was no way that the boy could actually care.

Wait; thought Draco, I don't actually want him to care, do I? The possibility that he might, made his thoughts spin, so he was grateful when Potter stuck out his hand to help him off the ground, as it made him focus on other things.

"Let's get out of here before someone finds us," he said.

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	5. Who’s the Bad Guy Here?

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**Chapter 5**

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They peeked out from one of the grouped rocks to see if anyone was in the area. None of them knew for sure who was a friend, and who was an enemy. Harry was willing enough to consider everyone a friend unless they proved otherwise, but he was outvoted when the others insisted they be more cautious.

"Hey!" said Ron fairly loudly, which earned him a bunch of shushing noises from the group. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he said, "I found this over there." He held up a coiled piece of rope, and pointed toward a rock that stood off to one side.

Hermione inspected it cautiously. It was about 20 feet long. "It must be one of those weapons the Death Eater mentioned," she said.

Ron looked at it skeptically. "How can you kill someone with that?"

"Don't be so naive Weasel. There are lots of ways you could kill someone with it." Malfoy gave Ron a look of contempt.

"Well just because I'm not used to killing people on a regular basis ferret…"

Harry cut in before they could get into a full blown argument. "Well, now that we have that all cleared up, how about we find somewhere a little more secure and figure out what we're going to do?"

On the other side of the island, Neville Longbottom was stumbling through some vicious blackberries, feeling grateful that he hadn't come across any wizarding plants. He heard a rustle of leaves behind him, and pulled his pant leg free from a bramble as he turned around. Ernie Macmillan stood there with a knife in his hand.

Neville jumped. "Ernie, you scared me," he said. "Can you cut me free? This last vine, doesn't want to let go."

Macmillan stepped forward without saying a word, and Neville tensed.

He cleared his throat nervously. "Ernie?"

"I'm really sorry about this Nev, but I'm sure you can see it's the only way out."

Neville's eyes widened when he realized what the other boy had in mind. "You don't mean that," he whispered. "Harry will…"

"You can't believe that the great Harry Potter will actually save us from this do you? There's no way out, and Potter is too weak to do what really needs to be done. I intend to be the one to survive this mess, even if I have to kill everyone to do it."

By this time Neville was backing away as quickly as possible, looking at Ernie Macmillan as if he was a wild animal that might attack at any time.

Putting his hands out to try and pacify the Hufflepuff, he said, "Now Ernie, y-you don't want to do that," he stuttered out.

"I don't want to," he said. "But I have to."

Neville could see the determination in his eyes. He turned and ran ripping his pants on the blackberries he had been caught on. They tore through his skin, and he could feel blood dripping down his shin. He ran as quickly as he could, knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. Should have exercised more, the pudgy boy thought. He could feel Ernie catching up, and hoped that someone would see him. He no longer had any breath left to scream.

Two steps later his attacker had caught up with him. An arm grabbed him around the throat, and held his chin up. The last words he heard were, "I don't want to have to look you in the eye when I do this. I hope you understand." Then metal cut into his throat, and everything faded to black as he slumped to the ground, blood pooling under him.

"So where are we headed anyway, Oh Hero of the Masses?" asked Draco sarcastically.

Harry gave the blonde a look, and bit down on his tongue to keep from making some nasty comment. They had been wandering for an hour, but no one could agree on a place to stay. During their travels they stumbled on a pair of scissors, and a vial of something that Draco thought was poison. He suggested that they test it on Ron, which of course started another argument.

The scissors were sharp, and were intended to be a weapon. Pansy stuck them in her pocket for later use.

"Did anyone notice that Parvati wasn't kidnapped with the rest of us?" asked Hermione as they searched through a thicker part of the woods.

"So what?" Ron said, clueless as always.

"They must be working with some sort of a list," Pansy speculated, seeing what the other girl was getting at. She moved up to walk by Hermione. "Theo was the only Slytherin, except for us two."

"Maybe they're picking people by a Death Eater / Non-Death Eater basis?" Hermione suggested.

"Why'd they take him then?" Ron asked pointedly, looking at Malfoy.

Malfoy sneered. "I'm sure it's all Potter's fault, but my father will clear this all up soon, and we'll be rid of all you Gryffindors."

"You ungrateful bastard," said Ron in a fury. "Harry saved your life back there, but you still have to act like a complete git. I would have left you to die like you deserve."

"Draco," said Pansy in a whisper. "My family is neutral, same as Theo's."

"See, you little Death Eater wannabe. You'd even leave your friends behind to save your ass," Ron said angrily.

Draco seemed to have nothing to say about that.

"Ron, he's probably right," said Harry.

"What? Harry you can't possibly mean that! If anything it's that evil bastard's fault!"

"How do you figure Harry?" asked Pansy looking back at him.

"Whoever kidnapped us probably had no idea what we looked like. Everyone has their names on their trunks, so they could go name by name. We were out of bed after curfew and they didn't know who was who, so they brought all of us to this lovely Oceanside resort to spend three fun filled days fighting for our lives. All in all, just another normal day in the life of Harry Potter."

Hermione nodded. "That makes a lot of sense. Does anyone know who was left behind?"

"It doesn't really matter who was left behind, Granger," sneered Malfoy. "We'd be better off making a list of who's here, and who'd be willing to do anything to survive."

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	6. Intentions?

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**Disclaimer:** Voldemort made me do it.

**Warnings: **Slash, H/D, Violence, Some Char Death, Happy Ending (for those of you who love angst)

**Chapter 6**

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"Well, this is a surprise," said a female voice laced with dark humor.

Ernie Macmillan whipped around, startled. His knife was held out in front of him ready to strike. He had been staring down at Neville's corpse, and was oblivious to anything else.

Looking up at the person who stood there, he asked stupidly, "Lavender?"

She was leaning on a tree, and held a nasty looking sword by her side. She looked perfectly relaxed. When he saw how she was calmly leaning to the side, he let the knife drop to his side.

"What do you want?" he asked shortly. Having her see him next to Neville's body left him feeling very uncomfortable.

She smiled, but it wasn't a pretty smile. It was self-serving and dangerous. "I don't want anything. I was just watching your little meeting with Longbottom, and thought I'd stay for a little chat."

Ernie narrowed his eyes. Her sword could easily overpower his knife in a straight out fight. She had more reach, and unless he could get close it was no contest. "Are you going to kill me?" he asked.

Lavender laughed. "Of course not. After all, the more you kill, the less I have to. It's such a messy job after all," she said looking at all the blood on the ground. It had splattered on Ernie's clothes as well, leaving dark red smudges on his pants and shirt. "However, don't underestimate me. I do intend to win at the end."

Ernie actually looked disgusted for a moment. Looking down he saw that Neville's blood was still on his hands. Wiping them on the legs of his trousers, he looked back up at Lavender. "You're a Gryffindor. Don't you expect Harry to save us, and all that crap?"

"Don't kid yourself," she said. "It's probably his fault that we're here. There's only one way off this island, and you know it."

The five of them finally stumbled onto a house in the forest. It wasn't more than a shack, and the door was missing. It had been torn off, or rotted off, years ago. The house had four walls and one window. The glass of which was long gone. It was getting late and they decided it was good enough for now. Ron, of course, complained about the spiders that had been building their nests in the corners of the shack. Despite all his disagreements with Ron, Draco made similar complaints about the dirt and dust on the floor. The other three rolled their eyes, and ignored them.

"We need to come up with a way to get off this island without dying," said Hermione. "Who else do you think would join us?"

"It might help if we can remember who's here," Harry suggested.

"Theodore Nott was the only one from our house taken," said Pansy, taking a seat on the floor next to Hermione. "Except for us that is."

"Well we know he'd gladly kill us all," said Ron.

"And why is that Weasel?" sneered Malfoy. "Because he's a Slytherin and we're all evil?"

Ron bristled angrily, and growled, "Well we all know you're evil, don't we? Too bad your daddy can't save you now."

Pansy glared at Ron.

"Ron, that's enough," Harry said.

"I can't believe you Harry. You can't seriously think that we'll be able to work together? You're supposed to be my best friend. I bet you're only being like this because you want to get into Malfoy's pants."

Harry flinched, and stared at Ron angrily.

"Ron how could you?" Hermione said with disappointment.

"You don't know anything about my father," growled Malfoy. "He's powerful enough to get me out of here. Too bad you can't say the same about yours."

"Fuck you, Malfoy," Ron said, and turned toward Harry. "You didn't even try standing up for me!"

"That's enough," Harry repeated. "I'm sick of all the fighting. The rest of us seem to be able to get along. I don't care what your problems are. Get over it, so we can work on finding a way back."

Ron and Draco started at each other angrily. They agreed that they hated each hated the other.

"Well, now that we have that cleared up," said Hermione. "Who's here from our house?"

"Well, I noticed that Lavender is here," Ron said.

"Oh you did, did you?" Hermione said acidly.

"Well, only in a general, roundabout sense," backtracked Ron.

Harry cleared his throat. "Getting back on track," he said. "I saw Neville, and Dean. Anyone catch Parvati, or Seamus?"

"I noticed Finnegan," Draco spoke up. "He was starting at me rather nastily when we first got here."

"No Parvati?" Hermione asked, and everyone shook their heads.

"You don't think she's…" Ron asked quietly.

"We must have missed her," Insisted Hermione. "She would never…join Him,"

They looked at each other quietly.

"Face it Hermione," said Harry. "It looks like she has." Changing the subject, he asked, "So who's most likely to try and win this thing?"

"Everyone is going to be looking out for #1 to some degree," said Draco. Despite his dislike of Potter and his friend, working together would be his best chance to get out of here. Winning the contest would mean having to kill Pansy, and he refused to do that. She was his best friend.

"I know Theo better than any of the others, since he's in my house. He isn't the type to go charging in to battle. He won't want to try anything without having the odds in his favor. He might join us if he thought we could get him out of here."

Harry smiled at Draco.

"Don't get used to it Potter," he grumbled. "I'm only agreeing to a temporary truce until we get the hell out of here."

"Lavender might be someone to watch out for," said Hermione.

Ron bristled. "She wouldn't! You're only saying that because you don't like her."

"The fact that she's a cheap slut, and you're only interested in getting your hands up her skirt has nothing to do with my decision," said Hermione with a huff.

Harry and Draco snickered.

"Actually," Pansy intervened. "Hermione is probably right. I've never met a more self centered witch in my life."

"Neville's not the type," said Harry. "He's loyal. If we can find him, he'll help us. Seamus and Dean are a toss up. I couldn't say for sure with either of them."

In an hour they had agreed on a list of 'Those most likely to kill' along with a list of 'those most likely to join'.

"I'm hungry," said Ron when they had finished.

"You're always hungry," said Harry, and then his stomach grumbled.

The others laughed.

"Malfoy, you're good at potions," said Hermione. "Do you have any idea what plant ingredients we can eat?"

"Wizarding ones, sure," he said. "But this place only has muggle plants."

"I'll go look," said Harry. "My relatives made me work in the garden. I learned what I could eat when I was hungry."

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione. "You could have died!"

"Well I was pretty sick a few times," grinned Harry. "But I learned what was ok, even if it tasted gross."

Harry and Ron went out, and were back in half an hour with an armful of plants. There were dandelion leaves, sorrel, and some unidentifiable greenery.

The sun was almost completely below the horizon when they were finished eating, and it was getting too dark to see. Ron suggested that they go to bed, and save any further plans for morning.

"We need to find a way out of here in three days. I think I can miss out on some sleep if it means we'll survive," said Draco.

"I think we should get some rest, since we can't see a damn thing. Tomorrow morning we'll work on plans, and making a fire so that we can work longer," Harry said. He was tired also.

They curled up on the floor as best they could. The weather was warm enough, but the floors were dusty and hard. Next to him Ron was sneezing, and complaining to Hermione about the spiders.

"Be glad you never had to sleep in my cupboard, Ron," Harry laughed. The place had been crawling with spiders. Harry was used to them.

Ron finally got comfortable. He had refused to sleep near Draco so he took the furthest spot on the right. Hermione lay down next to him. Harry placed himself in the center, choosing a neutral position, while trying to be a bridge between them. Draco wanted Pansy to sleep between him and Potter. She grinned, and refused, making herself comfortable by the wall.

"Why can't we go sleep outside?" Ron whined. "The ground is softer."

"And someone might slit your throat while you sleep," said Harry through a yawn.

"Yeah, like Malfoy," Ron mumbled quietly.

Pansy rolled over to her back. "Should we post a guard?" she asked.

"Probably not," said Draco. "It's too dark to see much, and I'm sure that everyone is asleep."

Draco woke slowly. His bed was warm and cozy. He didn't want to move. Snuggling into the nice soft pillow, he sighed. Something warm and heavy was wrapped around his shoulder. Wait, he thought in alarm, as the last threads of sleep fell away. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the hard wood floor of that filthy shack.

Please let it be Pansy, he begged even though he knew he was wrong. Opening his eyes cautiously, he saw that he was cuddled against his archrival. Harry was looking at him fondly. Draco was very lovely when he was asleep. His face relaxed instead of being twisted into a nasty sneer. A slight smile appeared on his face when he realized Draco was awake. Butterflies fluttered madly, but inexplicably in Draco's stomach before he pulled away harshly.

"What do you think you're doing Potter?" he said, breathing heavily.

Harry put one finger over his lips. Everyone else was still sleeping. Ron mumbled a complaint at the noise, and rolled back toward Hermione. The two were entwined as closely as Harry and Draco had been a few moments earlier. Harry motioned to the door, and the two of them walked outside.

The sky was starting to turn a light grey signaling that dawn was approaching.

It didn't take long for Draco to start yelling again. "What was all that about?" he asked again. "Do you think you can take advantage of me in my sleep and get away with it?"

Harry grinned. The blush on Draco's face was priceless. "You were the one cuddled against me," he said.

"You wish Potter!" Draco said. "You probably pulled me over when I was asleep!"

Harry walked over, and placed a soft kiss on Draco's lips before he could react. "You know I didn't," he whispered before walking back in.

Draco stood there with his fingers over his lips, and stared at the horizon lost in thought. He stood there until the sun came up.

He re-entered the shack, and found everyone awake. Stalking forward he slumped against the far wall. He was sure Potter had told everyone about this morning. No doubt the Gryffindor would enjoy every minute of his embarrassment. Draco looked over at Potter when no one said a word.

Harry saw Draco looking at him in surprise. He shook his head slightly letting him know that he hadn't said anything.

"So," he said. "Even though we have an idea who to watch out for, that really isn't our biggest problem. We need to find a way out of here, and fast. Does anyone have any ideas?"

"The first thing we need to do is figure out what the poison is," said Draco.

"And how do you expect us to do that? We don't even have a cauldron," Ron said somewhat nastily. "We need to find a way out of here first. Then we can get the antidote."

"Even if we get out, there's no guarantee we'll be able to get to an antidote in time," Pansy said.

"She's right," said Hermione. "We should work on that first."

"It won't do us any good if we're still stuck here," Ron insisted. "The Death Eaters have wands. They can Avada Kedavra us easily if we stay."

Harry frowned. "Ron's right," he said. "We need to do both at once."

Pansy stared at him. "In three days?" she asked disbelievingly.

Ron and Hermione looked as if he had asked them to walk on water.

"We can do this," Draco said, moving to sit by Harry. "We don't have a choice."

Surprised by Draco's support, Harry added, "We should also try and approach anyone who looks friendly. We can use all the help we can get."

With some difficulty Harry transfigured a pebble into a cauldron. When he finished he was breathing heavily. The world began to spin around him, and he blacked out.

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Please Review!

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	7. Discovering You, Discovering Me

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**Chapter 7**

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**Disclaimer:** Voldemort made me do it.

**Warnings: **Slash, H/D, Violence, Some Minor Char Death, Happy Ending (for those of you who love angst)

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Harry groaned as his vision cleared. His head felt like there was a troll dancing around inside it. Looking up, he saw the pale face of Draco Malfoy looking down at him. He almost looked…concerned.

"Did it work?" Harry asked softly, wincing in pain.

"Of course it did Golden Boy, but next time make sure the Weasel breaks your fall."

"Is that why my head is in your lap?"

"You were too heavy," said Draco. It was a lie and he knew it.. "I couldn't move you."

Harry heard Pansy snickering over in the corner.

Draco got up quickly, and Harry's head fell to the floor with a bang.

"Hey!"

Hermione held out a hand. "Are you ok?" Harry nodded, as she helped him up off the floor. As he was getting his balance Hermione whispered, "When you fell on him he refused to move until you woke." Harry glanced over at Draco, who seemed to be complaining to Pansy. "Ron's outside."

Harry put his hands up his aching head, and went outside to find Ron. As it happened, Ron found him first.

"Harry, what the hell was going on in there? I don't have a problem with you being gay, and it's funny as hell when you make Malfoy uncomfortable. I know we all need to get along here, but the ferret was nice to you when you passed out. He's never nice. He even seemed concerned. Harry, please tell me that you don't have a thing going with Malfoy. Tell me that you don't actually like him.

"I don't have a thing going with Malfoy," said Harry, much to Ron's relief. "But I do like him," he continued.

"Harry, no," said Ron. "Why does it have to be Malfoy? Why couldn't you fall for Seamus or Fred?"

"I don't know Ron," said Harry with a shake of his head. "Why does anyone like who they like? Why do you like a know-it-all, bushy haired witch who always nags you about your homework?" Harry winked and grinned at his best friend, who blushed to the roots of his bright red hair.

. They turned and saw that Hermione had pulled the cauldron outside, and was inspecting it. Inside, Draco was giving Pansy a very irritated look. She stood there with a grin on her face, and smirked at him. Harry grabbed his cloak, and went back outside. Sitting across from Hermione, he watched her check out the cauldron.

"This looks perfect, Harry. It's just what we were looking for," she leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Moving in on my girlfriend already, are you?" asked Ron with a grin as he joined them.

Harry laughed, and draped an arm over Hermione's shoulder, pulling her close. "You know it, Ron. I plan to seduce her so she'll give me all the answers to my NEWT's."

Hermione laughed and shoved him.

"Seriously, Mione, Now that we have a cauldron how the hell are we supposed to figure out what the poison is, let alone an antidote."

"I might have some ideas for that," said Draco Malfoy. He was leaning against the doorframe watching them. Pansy stood behind him, and Harry could see that she still looked amused.

"You would have all the answers wouldn't you, ferret?" asked Ron sarcastically.

Harry gave him a hard jab in the side.

"Ow!" He glared at Harry. "Fine. Tell us about your idea," Ron said somewhat grudgingly. Harry jabbed him once more. "Sorry."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Apology accepted. Anyway, we need to discover the type of poison they used. A revealing potion made with blood should get us some answers. The problem is that we'll need to find all the ingredients."

"Can we add muggle ingredients for the wizard ones?"

"We can try, but there won't be time to re-do the potion if it's a failure."

"If it's a failure it won't matter. We don't have any magical ingredients." Harry tried to look optimistic. "What do we need?"

Draco started to rattle off a list of ingredients. Harry and Ron stared at him blankly while he spouted them off. Hermione snickered. She got the same response during study sessions.

Draco looked up. "I wish we had something to write this down with."

Hermione handed him a notepad, and a pen. Draco looked at the items in her hands with confusion.

"What's that?" he asked.

Behind him Ron and Harry were laughing.

"Only Hermione would by carrying a pen and paper in this situation."

Ron knew what they were because he spent so much time with Hermione, but Draco had no clue.

"What is it?" he asked, taking the items warily.

Harry took them from him and doodled on the lined paper with the pen, and handed them back to Draco.

"They're the muggle version of a quill and ink."

Draco tested the pen. "Handy. Much neater than a quill." Draco re-listed the items he'd need for the potion, this time writing them down as well.

They all bent over to look at the list. Harry pointed out a few that might be on the island, while Pansy listed the items that could be substituted.

"This is the one that will be the real problem," said Hermione, pointing out the bubotuber pus.

"Would a slug work?" Ron suggested. "They're both slimy and gooey."

"Slugs are a living creature. Bubotubers are a plant." Hermione said. Their makeup is completely different. The cells of a plant contain chloroplast and have a central vacuole while…"

Hermione continued listing the differences between plant and animal biology, but Ron had tuned her out.

Draco and Pansy were looking a bit lost as Hermione described plant and animal differences using muggle biology. She saw their confused looks and started to describe what a cell was, but Harry cut her off.

"Could we transfigure the ingredients?" he asked.

Draco shook his head. "The magic of the transfiguration would mess up the potion. Let me think about what we can use to substitute. Right now, let's go look for the other ingredients."

"We shouldn't go anywhere alone," said Pansy when they all got up."

"How will we meet up again once we're done?" asked Harry.

"Let's come back here. We'll mark our paths when we leave. Be careful. We don't want anyone to see the marks, and follow them here," she said. "I'll go with Ron and Hermione. Draco, you go with Harry. He can help you with the muggle plants."

Ron was about to complain. He didn't want his best friend stuck with that git. Hermione put her hand over his mouth. Draco also looked like he wanted to say something, but closed his mouth when he saw the look on Pansy's face.

The two groups set out after agreeing to meet up at noon.

Hermione smirked at Pansy. "At this rate you'll be throwing Malfoy into Harry's lap by evening."

Pansy laughed, "What makes you think I'll wait that long? He's so much in denial it's funny. I'd lock the two of them in a closet if we had one."

"Harry sure wouldn't mind."

Ron made a strangled sound. "Yeah he actually said that he likes Malfoy. The ferret must have put a spell on him or something. There's no way Harry could want him otherwise."

"Don't worry Ron," said Hermione with a grin. "It's probably all hormones. After all, Malfoy is hot, even if he is an ass."

Pansy smiled. She'd been around for most of the arguments between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins. "He's actually pretty nice under that prickly exterior. His father taught him that emotions are a weakness. Spending time with Harry will be good for him, even if it doesn't go any further than friendship."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that Parkinson," said Ron. He was staring at her in amazement. "Are you sure you're not in love with him yourself?"

Pansy laughed. "I've known him since we were in diapers. He's like the brother I never had. Sex with him would be like incest. What I want is to see him make his own decisions. I don't want him to get killed in a pointless war because he followed his father blindly."

"So you'd let him join Voldemort if he wanted to?" asked Hermione tenatively.

"If it was his choice? In a heartbeat," replied Pansy.

Ron turned to face the bushy haired witch next to him. "See!" he shouted at Hermione. "She's a death eater, just like Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins."

"Don't talk about things you don't understand Weasel," sneered Pansy.

"Ron," said Hermione quietly, but her voice left no room for disagreement. "Don't yell. What if someone heard you?" She understood what Pansy was trying to say. Ultimately she wanted her friend to be happy. "Would you like Harry less if he decided he didn't want to fight Voldemort?"

"Of course not!" said Ron. His voice was still much too loud, making both Pansy and Hermione look around cautiously. "But he wouldn't join _them_. He's the Boy who Lived!"

Hermione sighed. "Yeah, because it's so great being the Boy who Lived. People out to kill you. Not a moment of peace. Papers full of lies from that Skeeter bitch."

"Harry would never go dark." Ron said with certainty. He and Harry would stand up and fight You Know Who together and the light side would win the war. Then his face fell as he remembered the prophecy. Harry would fight for them, but it wasn't a choice.

Hermione watched a range of emotions cross his face. "Exactly," she said.

"Sorry Parkinson," Ron said. He started to say something else when she made a shushing sound and covered her lips with one finger.

They heard voices up ahead. Crouching down they made their way closer. Then Ron made a muffled sound of pain, and pulled something out of the leaves on the ground. It was a knife. His hand had landed on the blade, cutting his fingers. Pansy took it from him gently by the handle. Hermione tore a strip of cloth from her skirt. She wrapped it around his finger to stop the bleeding.

--

Theodore Nott was leaning back against a large pine tree when he saw Lavender Brown walking toward him. She carried a long sword. Raising her arm, she pointed it at his throat.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said.

"And why not?" she asked.

Theo looked down at the thick dragonhide gloves that covered his hands. Two metal-like attachments had been added to the thumb and index finger on one hand. "This was lying here by the tree. I was just testing it out. It looks like it's some pretty nasty stuff." His eyes slid over to look at a spot on the grass where everything had been burned away." He moved one metal attachments against each other flicking a few drops of liquid toward her.

Lavender jumped back as a drop of fluid dissolved her shirt and began to work on her skin. Lifting her free hand, she began to scrub at her skin frantically to remove the poison.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, completely nonchalant. "There must have been some fluid left from before." He raised his hand and looked at the metal pieces.

Lavender still had her sword pointed at his throat, but her arm was starting to shake. The pain in her shoulder was affecting her more than she would admit. "I could kill you in a second," she said making sure her voice didn't waver. "You wouldn't have time to hit me with the potion."

"Maybe not," he said in agreement. "But I'd manage to hit you at least once. I'd hate to make your pretty face look like a mass of melted wax."

Lavender pulled her shirt forward and looked at her shoulder. There was a mark the size of a galleon. The skin was starting to ooze off and her shirt was sticking to it. No wonder it hurts so much, she thought.

"Fine," she said, lowering the sword. Next time she wouldn't waste time on pointless conversation. "I can wait. You have to sleep sometime."

Theo didn't reply. She left, and he watched her go until her body was hidden in the trees.

--

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	8. The Best Intentions

Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

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**Disclaimer:** Voldemort made me do it.

**Warnings: **Slash, H/D, Violence, Some Char Death, Happy Ending (for those of you who love angst)

--

"Psst," Pansy whispered from where she was hiding. "Hey, Theo…It's me." She was careful not to surprise him. After seeing what happened to Lavender, she didn't want any of that poison tossed in her direction.

His head shot up when he heard his name whispered. "Pans?" he said just as quietly.

"Here," Pansy got up and walked over to him.

"Did you see that whole thing?" he asked.

"She always was a bitch," Pansy sneered.

"Hey!" An insulted sniff came from behind them. Theo stiffened.

Pansy put a hand on his shoulder before he could move. "I'm not alone." When he relaxed, she motioned for Ron and Hermione to come over.

"Gryffindors, Pansy?" He arched an eyebrow. "Oh how the mighty have fallen."

Pansy shrugged. "They're not so bad."

Behind them, Hermione and Ron were arguing as usual.

"I've been telling you she's a slut all along Ron. Honestly, stop thinking with your dick. If you slept with her now she'd probably cut if off after putting her sword through your throat."

"But Hermione, she was always so nice."

Hermione crossed her arms across her chest and looked at him.

"She was!" he insisted. "She would come over and sit on my lap, and cuddle. It was nice and cozy and she always whispered such nice things to me." Ron realized he was just digging himself further in. "Uh…."

Over to the side, Theo and Pansy were snickering.

"We should probably get back. It's almost noon. Harry and Draco will be waiting for us." Hermione spun on her heel coldly, and started walking back to the cabin.

"Harry and Draco?" asked Theo and looked at Pansy. "I can't wait to hear the rest of this."

--

Harry and Draco chose a direction that headed away from Hermione, Ron and Pansy.

"I hate you," Draco said.

"I know." Harry walked on without pausing. He scanned the trail on the left and right for anything they might be able to use in the potion. The few muggle ingredients listed would be the easiest to find.

"I mean it," The blonde repeated firmly. "I really hate you."

"Who are you trying to convince, Draco?" Harry shoved a few purple flowers into a pocket.

"You don't have permission to call me by my given name. One would think that even you have enough intelligence to grasp that fact." Draco bent to pull some moss of the base of a tree. It came off in stringy wisps. It stuck to his fingers and had to be pulled off gently. After damaging a few pieces beyond repair he was able to pull off enough for the potion.

"Sorry, _Malfoy_," Harry said, emphasizing Draco's last name. "Who are you trying to convince that you hate me?"

"What kind of question is that? Clearly I know that_ I_ hate you, so I'm trying to get it through your thick skull that you better keep your hands off….mmmph!"

Harry shoved Draco against the back of the tree pinning him there. Before Draco could complain, or even move, he realized that there were a set of lips attached to his own. He made a muffled complaint and tried to wiggle away. When a hand reached up to caress his cheek he started to relax. Before long he was kissing back. A warm tongue worked its way into his mouth. Moaning he threaded his fingers into Harry's dark messy hair, and pulled him closer.

When a cold hand slid up his side, and worked its way under his shirt he came back to himself. Yanking his lips away and shoving Harry backward he gave the Gryffindor his best Malfoy glare.

"What do you think you're doing Potter? I told you to keep your hands to yourself! If I had my wand I'd hex your bits off."

"Well it's a good thing you don't have your wand then isn't it?" Harry smirked, his lips still red and swollen from the kiss.

"Just don't forget what I said." Draco gave Harry another shove and stomped off to search for more ingredients. Harry followed, grinning. When they headed back to the cabin and hour later Draco still wasn't speaking to him.

--

Pansy, Theo, Hermione, and Ron were waiting when Draco stormed into the clearing. Harry followed with an amused look on his face, and it was all Pansy could do not to laugh.

"We didn't find any of the ingredients, but we did find Theo and a knife," said Hermione.

"We found some of the plants," said Harry pulling some crumpled leaves and flowers out of his pockets.

"You could have been more careful with them Potter," Draco sneered. "But then again you always were a brainless idiot when it came to potions."

"I thought we were past all that," said Pansy. She leaned over and whispered into Harry's ear, "What happened out there?"

Harry turned to whisper back, "I kissed him. He liked it too, until he realized what was going on and nearly shoved me on my ass."

"You should try flirting with Theo, and see what happens."

"Would he mind? I didn't know Theo liked guys." Harry looked over at him appraisingly. He was smiling, and explaining what happened with Lavender to Draco. He was quite handsome, thought Harry.

"He goes either way. Even if he didn't he'd probably agree because it'd be fun for him to tease Draco."

"And you think this will work?" Harry asked cautiously. He didn't want to drive Draco away.

"Definitely," Pansy assured him. "He won't admit that he wants you, but he doesn't want anyone else to have you either. Wait and see."

"So how have we done so far?" Harry looked to see how many of the ingredients they had found. He carelessly tossed an arm over Theo's shoulder. The Slytherin looked at Harry curiously, and was about to move away when Harry leaned in to whisper in his ear. A bright smile appeared on his face. He relaxed, and leaned into the embrace.

"Uh… Mate, what's going on?" asked Ron. His eyes flickered between Harry and Theo in surprise.

"I've decided that I don't want to die a virgin," Harry said brightly, and smiled.

"But…but…he's a Slytherin. You don't want to lose your virginity to_ him_." Ron choked on the water he had been drinking. Pansy patted him on the back until he recovered.

"Does that mean you're offering to take his place?" Harry joked.

"What?" Ron sputtered. "Of course not!"

Hermione watched as Harry's eyes moved back and forth between Draco and Ron. The fact that Draco was standing almost completely behind Harry made this quite a feat. He would say something to Ron, and then turn to whisper in Theo's ear. Hermione didn't think he was saying much of anything to Theo. As a matter of fact she wasn't even sure that his lips were moving. Draco never noticed. He was too busy glaring at the back of Theo's head. Hermione smiled.

"I thought we were getting out of here," Ron said.

"We are," smiled Harry. "But why take chances right?"

"You just jump right in don't you Harry?" asked Pansy. From the look on Draco's face, her plan was working beautifully.

"Of course," he answered. "I'm a Gryffindor."

"More like camp slut," Draco sneered. "Tell me Potter, is there anyone here you haven't slept with?"

Pansy walked over to Draco and slapped him soundly. She turned without a word and walked back to the cabin. Hermione was trying to keep Ron from punching Draco. He did his best to pull free, but she managed to drag him away.

"Good job," said Harry coldly. "You managed to offend everyone here in one go including your best friends. Looks like the attack range on your insults is improving. You should feel proud." Harry followed the rest into the cabin with Theo hand in hand.

Draco stood there staring down at the ground, feeling like a real jerk. What made him say that in the first place? Potter was too disgustingly noble to screw around. Seeing him with Theo bothered him, and he had just reacted. He didn't understand why. It wasn't because he wanted Potter for himself…right?

--

"I don't think this is going to work," Harry whispered to Pansy once they were sitting on the dusty floor of the cabin.

"It will," she assured him. "Don't worry."

Harry was feeling unsure about the whole plan. "He's just going to hate me more than ever."

"He won't. Relax Harry, you're doing fine." Pansy patted his knee in reassurance.

When Draco walked in through the door, Hermione was whispering rapidly into Pansy's ear. Pansy was nodding and grinning excitedly. What's that all about? He wondered.

Draco sat down unhappily. Looking around the circle he quietly said, "I'm sorry."

Pansy smiled. "It's ok. We're used to you being a git."

Harry nodded. "Don't worry about it Malfoy." Maybe things with Draco would work out after all.

Ron frowned. He still wanted to hit Draco. He was a nasty little shit, and he had insulted him, Hermione and Harry all in one go. He shouldn't have even been surprised. After years of insults he knew that there was no way Malfoy would ever be a decent person. Hermione had one hand on his shoulder. The look on her face was stern and unyielding. He contented himself with glaring at Malfoy angrily.

Theo was the one who broke the tension in the room by asking what they were up to. Since explanations were right up her alley, Hermione took over. She showed him the list they had created for the revealing potion, and the cauldron Harry had created. Theo was suitably impressed with the cauldron, and hugged Harry tightly.

Draco gave them a look that could have frozen water. Then he realized what he was doing, and quickly looked away. Blushing fiercely he tried not to think about the kiss in the forest that day.

"Hermione give Draco the list and we'll jot down what we've gathered so far. He has the best handwriting," he looked over at Draco, whose face wasn't betraying any emotions. "Sorry, I mean give Malfoy the list," Harry corrected.

Draco remembered his command from earlier. A flicker of hurt passed through him, but he ignored it. Malfoys did not have relationships with other boys, so there wasn't any need for familiarity.

--

Sitting with her back against a tree Lavender Brown was breathing heavily. The wound on her shoulder was getting worse. The sleeve of her blouse lay on the ground, near her leg. She had tried to wrap it around her arm, but couldn't manage it with only one hand. It was probably just as well, she thought. A clear liquid was seeping from the wound, and she didn't want to make it worse.

Footsteps headed in her direction, and she stiffened. She tried to keep herself totally silent. Tucking her knees up to her chest, she tried to make herself into a smaller target, and prayed that she wouldn't be noticed. Despite the bad shoulder, she swore that she wasn't going to die out here sitting in the dirt. She was going to wait here patiently until the others killed each other off. The sword was a good weapon. Even left handed, she was sure she could kill the last survivor.

She was going over her plans for victory when a set of legs appeared in front of her. She pushed herself onto her feet, and using the tree trunk for support, and held the sword loosely in her right hand. Trying to distract attention from her hands, she flashed a winning smile.

"Seamus," she said, trying her best to sound seductive. They had gone together for a short while back at Hogwarts, and she tried to rekindle the romance. "How are you doing love?"

"You look like shit, Lav," he said flatly, and glanced over at the piece of cloth on the ground.

Lavender watched him carefully, trying not to let her emotions show. He kept a close eye on her. There was no way she'd be able to switch the sword to her other hand unnoticed.

Testing her charms again, she said, "It's been a rough day. Why don't we make ourselves comfortable here on the ground? We can watch each others backs, and maybe take a short nap. I'll make it worth your while."

She tried to move toward him seductively but the damage to her shoulder made her look awkward, and uncoordinated.

Seamus' eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "I don't think I'd trust you to watch my back. After all, your morals never stopped you from cheating on me back at school."

"You don't understand," she whimpered making sure to sound upset. She let a tear run down her cheek. "I didn't mean to cheat on you. He made me do it. He forced me."

"He forced you to stick your hand down his pants?" Seamus asked. "I don't think so, Lav. By the way, I saw Ernie Macmillan earlier today. He was determined to kill me, but thankfully I got lucky. He told me all about your grand plan for survival. Do you know he wanted to team up with me so we could beat you at your own game? I turned him down. Gratuitous killing really isn't my style. You had a really clever idea, but even without Ernie in the picture I don't think you'll get very far."

"Seamus, please!" Lavender begged. "This isn't like you. You wouldn't ever have done something like this back at Hogwarts. You're the perfect Gryffindor, honorable and loyal. Please don't hurt me."

"Look," he said, and stepped forward. Lavender saw he was holding Ernie's knife in his hand. "That wound is only going to get worse." He waved the knife at her shoulder. "I can tell just by looking at you that it hurts like hell. He grimaced. I think the skin is burning off. If you leave it, you'll be in agony until it eventually kills you."

"I won't let it kill me. No matter what happens I'm going to win this stupid game. Then I'll be able to go home to my parents and everything will be like it was."

"Everything will never be like it was." Seamus took a step forward.

"No, don't," Lavender gasped. She started to move the sword to her other hand when a pain ripped through her shoulder, she stumbled and the weapon fell to the ground. In desperation she turned to run. Moving away quickly, she heard Seamus follow. In her haste she tripped over something on the ground. When she fell her bad arm couldn't support her. Her head hit the ground, and she blacked out.

She felt Seamus turn her over. The knife was lying off to the side, and she could feel something warm and sticky soaking through her shirt. She guessed that he wound must have torn open. Her head was throbbing. Lifting her good arm to her forehead, she wasn't surprised when it came away bloody. She must have hit her head on something when she fell.

"I'm sorry I couldn't catch you in time," Seamus said. He moved to sit behind her, and put her head in his lap.

She looked up at him. Her vision was fading in and out, and she fought the urge to giggle hysterically. "What does it matter? You're going to kill me anyway," she asked.

"I don't want to hurt you any more than I have to. I'll make it quick. You don't need to suffer. You don't want to die inch by inch in agony the way you are now."

Lavender lost consciousness again before he finished talking. He slid the knife across her throat quickly in one motion, and moved his hand gently across her face closing her eyes. Without a word, he stood up and walked away.

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	9. Jumping the Fence

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**Chapter 9**

**-Jumping the Fence-**

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**Disclaimer: **This does not belong to me. I was tied up by Draco, and held at wandpoint until I wrote something kinky about him and Harry.

**Warnings: **Slash, H/D, Violence, Some Char Death, Happy Ending

* * *

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"We have all of the muggle ingredients on the list," said Harry. "Now what?"

"Malfoy, are you sure that Harry can't transfigure something into the ingredients we need?" Hermione asked. There didn't seem to be any other way around it.

"You can transfigure stuff?" Theo looked at Harry in surprise. "Wandless?"

Harry nodded, and Theo hugged him excitedly. "That is so cool! What's the problem with Harry doing it?"

"The residual magic in transfigured items will affect the potion," said Draco.

"It doesn't really matter does it?" Ron was sitting against the wall. "We'll never find replacements in time. If the transfigured ones don't work we're just going to die here. I bet You Know Who is having a grand laugh over all this."

"Malfoy, we don't really have any other choice," said Hermione stubbornly.

"It won't work Granger. You know that," Draco repeated firmly.

"Ok Mr. Potions Genius," said Pansy. "What should we do then?"

-Silence-

"See, we're all going to die," Ron repeated. He stretched out on the floor, and folded his hands behind his head. "Wake me when this is all over."

"Ron, you could be a little more optimistic about all this you know," scolded Hermione.

"It doesn't matter. It's not like Weasley would be much use to us anyway," said Draco.

Ron sat up. "Now look here Malfoy, you sanctimonious little prick…" started Ron.

Harry sighed deeply. "Just leave it, Ron." Wrapping one arm around Theo's waist just for the moral support, he looked over at Hermione and Draco. "We need to come up with some sort of resolution and soon. There isn't much time left, and we still need to find a way through the wards. We're going to be up all night, so let's not waste time and energy fighting."

"I couldn't agree more Harry," said Pansy, and she walked outside. "We're going to need a fire. We'll need it for light, warmth, and the potion. Can you fix one up for us?"

Hermione cleared off a flat spot on the ground and gathered some dry grass, leaves, and found a pair of sticks. "Don't waste your magic Harry. I can do this the muggle way."

Harry looked at her skeptically. "Well if you're sure…"

Theo looked down at Hermione who was rubbing the two sticks together. "What on earth are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get a fire started," she explained. "You see the friction created by rubbing two objects together starts a chemical reaction that produces heat…"

"Ok I think we get it," Harry cut in. "Now in the interest of time, let's just do it the easy way…" Harry poked his finger into the leaves. "Incendio."

Harry gasped and rocked backward slightly. The simple spell seemed to take more out of him than normal. What was going on?

They sat down around the fire and started tossing out ideas on how to get through the wards. Suddenly Pansy's stomach growled. Everyone looked over at her.

"What?" she asked. "I'm hungry."

"So what's for dinner?" asked Theo laughing as his stomach rumbled as well.

"Water," Harry said. His stomach wasn't growling, but then again he was used to it. "Unless you feel up to going out and killing some small animal to eat," he laughed.

"You know, I don't think there are any animals here," Pansy commented, looking around. "Doesn't it seem odd to you?"

"I hadn't noticed before, but you're right. There aren't any birds or anything. There should at least be birds." Hermione looked up in the air. It was probably three hours to sunset, and not a bird to be seen. "I haven't heard a peep," she added.

Pansy laughed.

"Oh that's bad Hermione," said Theo.

Draco was standing apart from the others. He leaned against the cabin, and thought. He knew that given time, he could find substitutes for the missing ingredients, but it would take too long, and would probably result in quite a few botched potions. Using transfigured ingredients was a tricky business, because they tended to keep some properties from the original item.

He looked up to see Harry Potter heading his way. "I didn't realize you went anywhere without Nott draped all over you," he sneered, and watched as Potter flinched. He could see the hurt in his eyes, and twinge of remorse shot through him. Damn it all, he thought. There was no reason he should feel bad. It was Potter for Christ's sake! They'd been insulting each other for years. He hated the stupid Gryffindor. 'Until he kissed you,' said a voice said in the back of his mind. 'Shut up,' he retorted, shoving the thought back down. 'And he's been nothing but nice to you,' added the voice. 'I said shut up!' he repeated loudly enough to drown out any other thoughts. 'And don't forget that he saved your life,' the voice whispered insistently, before fading away.

Draco groaned in frustration.

"Look Dra-Malfoy," said Harry after a short pause. "I know you don't like me, and I can accept that, but we really need to come up with a solution for this potion. You have the most experience out of all of us, so we need you to make a decision."

"Draco," he said.

"What?" Harry asked. He looked at him in confusion.

"You can't seem to remember to address me by my surname. I don't mind if you call me Draco." He was surprised to realize that he actually meant it.

Harry's smiled to himself. It looked like he was making progress. "Draco then," he said. "So what should we do?"

"We'll have to transfigure the rest. It's best if we use items made from similar ingredients."

"You go find what we need, and I'll tell everyone what we've decided. Pansy should be able to get the cauldron ready."

Draco walked into the woods. Harry was helping Pansy set up, when a scream pierced the air.

"Draco!" gasped Harry, and raced off without remembering to grab a weapon.

"Wait!" Hermione shouted, but he ignored her and kept going.

"Theo, go get those poison gloves of yours. I've got the knife," commanded Pansy, taking charge of the situation. "Hermione stay here and keep an eye on the cauldron." She paused, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything. "Ok, let's go."

Hermione gave Pansy a worried look, but nodded in agreement.

Draco froze and looked around wildly when he heard the scream. What had he been thinking to come out here alone? He was about to run when Potter crashed into him, and nearly knocked him over. He felt himself starting to fall, but strong arms caught him and pulled him upright.

"Are you ok Draco? We heard a scream." Harry looked at Draco worriedly."It wasn't me," said Draco breathlessly. Harry was still holding him, and their faces were inches apart. He closed his eyes, and started to lean forward, when the sound of crashing leaves headed in their direction.

"Draco! Harry!" Theo was yelling.

Draco jumped back. He folded his arms across his chest, and looked around blandly. Nothing going on here, he told himself, trying to keep from looking guilty. It wasn't like he had just tried to kiss the Boy Who Lived or anything like that after all.

The look on Harry's face was unreadable.

"What happened?" Theo asked when he reached them. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," he said. He saw Pansy running up behind Theo. "The scream came from over there." Draco pointed.

"Should we go try and help?" Harry asked.

"No," said Draco.

"Draco, someone might be hurt," Harry wrinkled his eyebrows in and frowned.

"Harry, Draco's right," Pansy said. She put a hand on his shoulder in understanding. "I understand how you feel, but we don't know who's out there. Even if we help them, there's no guarantee they won't turn on us to win the game. We don't have the luxury of trust when it could be fatal."

"There are more of us though. And if we can gather even more people we might be able to escape even faster."

"Harry," said Theo kindly. "Would you want to see Hermione hurt? Or Draco? Is it worth it?"

"No," he said, giving in.

"Let's get back to camp," Theo said, and wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulder.

Draco watched them go. He had almost kissed Potter. How could he have been so stupid?" Potter wouldn't have wanted him to kiss him. He was with Theo. Draco was so lost in thought that Pansy had to call his name three times before he heard her.

"Draco…Draco?...Draco!"

He finally looked toward her.

"What happened?" she asked. He had been staring at Harry in a mixture of regret, and embarrassment. She wondered what had happened before she arrived.

"I nearly kissed him, Pans. He's with Theo. He wouldn't want me kissing him, and that's not even mentioning that I almost betrayed one of my best friends. Potter must be so disgusted with me. I'm sure he thinks I have absolutely no morals since I'd stoop so low as to try and steal my best friends boyfriend. I don't even understand why I care what he thinks."

"I'm sure that he'll understand if you explain," Pansy patted his shoulder

"Talk with Potter? I guess I should apologize. It's not something I do often, so he better appreciate it." Draco sneered the last part jokingly.

Pansy smirked knowingly.

--

Susan Bones was hiding quietly between a tree, and a blackberry thicket. Her stomach rumbled, and she was thirsty. She hadn't had anything to eat or drink since her last evening at Hogwarts.

There was a rustling noise coming her way. She curled into herself, hoping to make a small enough ball for the blackberries to hide her. She could feel the thorns digging into her back.

She saw Justin Finch-Fletchley leaning against a nearby tree. He was holding a bow in his hand. Glad to see a friend, she relaxed and stood up She was halfway over to greet him when she saw that his eyes were different…frightening. He brought up his bow, and notched it.

Susan screamed, and started running. In twenty four hours the world had gone mad. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to fight. She wanted to be back in her dorm, lying in her nice safe bed with its nice yellow and black curtains. She didn't want to have to worry about anything more than the next day's charms homework.

An arrow slammed into the tree beside her with a loud thunk that had her dodging to one side. She looked over her shoulder and was relieved that no one was following. Justin must have shot that first arrow, but stopped once she was out of sight. Panic and denial overwhelmed her. Exhausted, she collapsed behind a fallen log.

She did her best to convince herself that the boy hadn't been Justin, but denial can only take you so far. In the end she dropped her head down on her knees and cried.

--

"Ron Weasley," Hermione said from the doorway of the cabin. "What do you think you're doing lying around in here? Get outside and help."

Ron wasn't about to go outside and help with something so pointless. They were only going to die here, why couldn't the rest of them admit it? Malfoy was a backstabbing sonofabitch and Parkinson and Nott probably weren't much better. Harry and Hermione would end up helping these assholes only to be left behind in the end. Ignoring Hermione's frustration, Ron played with a loose board in the floor. He refused to be taken in by the goody-goody attitude. Squeak Squeak Squeak The floorboard rocked in its moorings..

"Harry won't be able to save us this time Hermione," he finally said.

"We're all working together on this, Ron," she said watching him. "Would you stop that?!" she asked when he kept playing with the board. The noise was starting to get to her. How could he be so callous? Hermione walked forward so she was standing over him. Softening her tone, she added, "Ron, please. We need to have everyone working on this to survive."

"Don't kid yourself 'Mione, Malfoy is just waiting for all of us to drop our guard.

He's only out for himself, and he'll kill us as soon as we turn our backs. I can't believe you've all been suckered in by him. And Harry, don't even let me get started on Harry…"

"What's wrong with Harry?" she asked. She thought she probably knew what was coming.

Ron began pushing the floorboard up and down faster. "He's even blinder than you are to what's really going on here. All he wants is to get into Malfoy's pants, and he doesn't care if he has to die to do it."

Hermione gave Ron a disgusted look. "I can't believe you'd say something like that about your best friend. I know you hate Malfoy, but we're fighting for our lives, and you're sitting here on your ass, because you're pissed at him. Malfoy is not going to kill us. He's had plenty of chances to do it, and we're all still alive, and it's certainly not because you're his favorite person. Besides, Pansy is his best friend. He's not going to kill her."

"Lavender's our friend, but that didn't stop her from killing."

"She was trying to kill Theo. He's a Slytherin, and not her friend. She wouldn't do that to either of us," Hermione said, but she wasn't so sure that it was true.

"Give me a break, Hermione. You don't believe that any more than I do. Whatever happened to 'She's an evil bitch?'?" Ron sneered up at her.

Hermione was starting to get angry. "Whatever happened to 'You are so beautiful, and I want to get into your pants?'?"

They glared at each other angrily.

"Reality kicked in," Ron said finally

"Fine," said Hermione storming out. "But when we do get out of here I expect an apology from you!"

She furiously strode over to the others, wishing for a door on the cabin, so that she could slam it shut behind her. She slumped down on the ground.

Pansy looked at her in concern. She gave the other girl a comforting hug. "I guess it didn't go well," she said. " Are you ok?"

"He's so impossible," she gritted out. "He won't help us at all. He's just sitting there doing nothing, and telling me that we're all going to die anyway. It's like he's given up. I could just slap him!"

"That's a shame," Draco said sarcastically. "We could have used his help brewing the potion. That way we could get some work out of him before I kill him. After all genius like his shouldn't be wasted."

"How did you know what he was saying?" asked Hermione suspiciously.

"I wasn't listening, if that's what got you worried Granger, said Draco. "It doesn't' take much to figure out what the Weasel was thinking. Considering how much he hates me, I'm surprised that he hasn't tried to kill me himself."

Hermione gasped, "Ron would never…"

Seeing that this could head into dangerous waters, Harry changed the subject. "I hope you don't think I should help with the potion in Ron's place," he said.

"Of course not Potter," Draco sneered, but it didn't have any bite behind it. "Everyone knows you're a walking potions disaster."

A few smiles flickered across the faces around him.

Draco took the opportunity to talk to Harry alone. "Let's get some work out of you anyway Potter. Come help me look for the remaining ingredients. I wasn't able to get all of them because we were interrupted. Take the knife. We'll need it."

Harry got up, and looked over at Theo with a nod"

Theo understood the question Harry was asking, and nodded back. He hoped things would work out between him and Draco. The play had been fun, but Harry really wasn't his type.

Hermione and Pansy were sharing the same secretive grin.

Harry picked up the knife. "Let's go," he said and walked into the forest. He stopped where when he reached the place Draco had stopped earlier and waited for the blonde to catch up. "I don't know what we're looking for, so you'll have to take the lead," he said looking around. "I'm just your bodyguard."

"Potter wait," Draco put a hand on Harry's arm to stop him and felt a shiver run up his spine. "Listen, about earlier… I know you're with Theo, and I wanted to say sorry… And you better accept it, because I don't' apologize to just anyone," he added.

Harry took a deep breath and said quickly, "I won't accept your apology, because I'm not sorry, and I'm not with Theo, and you should have kissed me."

"You're not with Theo?" asked Draco glaring. "Well what the hell was all that back there then? About losing your virginity and all…"

"Well, he might have, sort of, helped me try to make you jealous so you'd realize you like me," Harry mumbled. "Or something like that." He had known this wouldn't be a good idea. Draco would hate him now.

Draco glared at him, and Harry started to fidget. "You manipulative, sneaky, conniving, underhanded..." A small smile worked its way onto Draco's face. "You Slytherin!"

"I think that might have been a compliment," Harry said, relieved. "But don't give me all the credit. It was Pansy's idea."

"It would be," Draco said. "Interfering bitch that she is." He moved closer to Harry uncertainly. "Uh…" he started to say, when Harry's mouth landed on his in a soft kiss. It was tentative, inviting, and nothing like the angry one Harry had forced on him earlier. Two sets of lips tested, and teased, and each of them relaxing, which invited further exploration.

Draco felt Harry's tongue slide across his lower lip. He opened his mouth, and pulled Harry closer. His fingers worked their way through Harry's thick dark hair, and he heard a moan. Every nerve was tingling for attention, and he wasn't sure if the moan was his or Harry's. They were deepening the kiss further when there was a noise behind them. Jumping apart they looked around warily. Harry immediately put one hand on the knife, but relaxed when there didn't seem to be any danger.

Another rustle had them tensing even more. They didn't want anyone sneaking up to them. Harry motioned in the direction of the noise. He wanted to try and get the advantage. Draco nodded tentatively but followed. Harry put one finger to his lips motioning for Draco to be quiet, and they snuck over. They did their best to approach quietly and Harry held the knife out in front of him.

A small shape sat huddled in front of them.

"Isn't that that Hufflepuff chit…?" Draco started to say, when Harry gasped, "Susan!"

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	10. Betrayal and Madness

**Chapter 10**

**-Betrayal and Madness-**

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**Disclaimer: ** I was under Imperius!

**Warnings: **Slash, H/D, Violence, Some Char Death, and not too slashy because I suck at writing anything graphic.

**A/N:** I know where I'm going to be heading with this, but I'm curious to know where YOU think I should be heading with this. Let's hear your ideas!

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Harry put the knife away. He touched Susan's shoulder, and she flinched away violently.

"Draco can you help her up?" he asked. "We'll take her with us."

Draco grabbed her under the arms and tried to lift Susan to her feet. She was completely limp, and slipped out of his grasp. Wrapping his arms around her even more tightly he tried again. This time both of them fell.

Harry watched in concerned frustration. "What the hell Draco?" he asked.

Draco looked back toward Harry in shock. "I can't do it," he said.

"Look, I know she's just a Hufflepuff, and far below you, but I think you can lower yourself to help her just this once," Harry criticized.

Draco turned to look at Harry. "No," he said, and Harry was surprised to hear the fear in his voice. "I mean I really can't lift her. She's too heavy."

Harry handed everything over to Draco, and crouched down in front of the terrified girl. She hadn't responded to them since they had found her. Right now she was whimpering softly, and trying to curl up into a ball.

"Sue?" Harry asked, gently lifting her chin so she would look at him. "Do you know who I am? It's me, Harry. I'm going to try and lift you now." He pulled the limp girl to her feet and swung her up into his arms. He turned to Draco. "She doesn't seem too heavy to me. You should be as strong as I am. If you can't lift her, then something's wrong," said Harry. "How heavy did she seem to you?"

Draco looked worried. "It felt like I was trying to lift that great oaf, Hagrid."

"Let's get back as quickly as we can. I don't think we're too far away. You get our stuff, and I'll get Susan."

Draco caught Harry's sleeve as he turned. "If you think this gets you out of our snogging session, you've got another thing coming."

Harry smiled and dropped a soft kiss on Draco's lips. "I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said.

After what felt like forever they staggered back into camp. Harry was still holding Susan in his arms, but she was getting heavier by the minute. She wasn't trying to help or resist. She had stopped whimpering, but she had stopped doing anything else as well. Harry was concerned that her mind might be completely gone.

"It's as if her soul was sucked out by a Dementor," Draco whispered by his ear.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted, running up to them when she saw them enter the clearing. She looked at the girl in Harry's arms. "What happened?"

"We found her like this," said Draco.

Susan looked at Hermione and cringed away.

"Sue! It's me Hermione. Are you ok?" she asked the girl.

Harry sat her down against the cabin. "See if you and Pansy can help her," he said with a sad smile. "Draco and I are going to get this potion started."

Harry sat down and started to transfigure the items he and Draco had found for the potion. When the first one was finished, he found himself gasping and spots began to dance in front of his eyes. Once he was sure he wasn't going to pass out, he leaned back on his arms and paused to catch his breath.

It shouldn't have been so difficult, he thought. Shrugging it off, he assumed that their lack of food must be affecting him more than he thought. Sitting upright, he moved on to the next item.

"I'm going in to get the rest of our stuff," said Draco walking toward the cabin. Aside from the comment about Hagrid, he refused to say anything about the fact that his strength was fading He wasn't going to admit that anything was wrong. Not even to Pansy.

He walked into the cabin to get their remaining herbs. They had left them in the dark hoping that the quality would improve if they dried in a cool dry environment. Not that they has much of a chance to dry anyway.

Raising his hands he untied a bunch from one of the crossbeams. At least the rope they had found was handy for something, he thought. He was untying the last bunch of herbs, when he felt something sharp spear his shoulder. With a loud cry, he fell to his knees, and whatever was embedded in his flesh slid out. He turned to see who his attacker was.

Ron Weasley stood above him. He held a broken piece of the floorboard he had been playing with earlier. Two sharp nails were sticking out of one end, and his blood dripped off them.

"I know what you're up to Malfoy," he hissed. "You don't fool me. I know you've planned to kill us all along, and I won't let you! I'm going to make sure I kill you first!"

At that moment Pansy ran into the cabin. "Is everything all right? We heard a yell…" Pansy took in the scene in front of her. "Weasley what do you think you're doing?"

He hit her stomach hard with the blunt end of the floorboard. She wheezed and bent over as the air was forced out of her. Falling to her knees, she gasped for breath. Ron kicked her for good measure. She curled up into herself to lessen the damage. The impact pushed her body backward along the floor. It was the last thing Draco saw before he lost consciousness.

Hermione had followed Pansy when they heard the yell. In shock she watched Ron hit the Slytherin girl. It seemed almost surreal. Like watching a car wreck, and being unable to turn away. Shaking herself out of her stupor, she started shouting. "Ron, Draco and Pansy are our friends! What on earth are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"

"You're all against me!" Ron growled. "Just a bunch of traitors!"

Ron shoved Hermione out of the way, pushing her to the ground as he made his way past her. She fell with a thud. She watched as Ron stormed into the forest. The sorrow she felt was like a clamp gripping her chest. Digging her nails into the palm of her hands she tried to keep the tears at bay.

Ron's footsteps faded into the distance, leaving Harry's confused voice yelling into the darkness behind him. "Ron? Ron! What the hell is going on?!"

Theo returned from gathering water, and found complete chaos. Pansy and Hermione were shouting angrily, although seemingly not at each other. They watched guardedly as Harry helped a clearly injured Draco out of the cabin. Pansy, he noted was walking a bit stiffly, and Hermione seemed moments from collapse. In the corner, a girl was curled up on the ground and trembling. He had to look at her for a minute before he realized that she was that Hufflepuff girl, Susan something.

"What the hell happened?" he asked as he walked into camp.

"Ron happened," said Harry shortly. He had pulled Draco's robes off, and started working on the buttons of his shirt.

"Really Potter, if you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask," Draco joked, gritting his teeth. He cried out, and quickly bit it back when Harry gently pulled the shirt down his arms.

"Don't you dare use magic to heal me," Draco said hoarsely.

"I'm not," said Harry. He began to tear Draco's robes into strips. "I'm going to wrap you up nice and tight. By the way, I think you can call me Harry, after all, you've my tongue in your mouth," he said and pulled the first bandage tight.

Draco gritted his teeth against the pain. "Nice distraction technique Harry. Why don't you list all the other things you want to do to me so I don't notice the way you're mangling my shoulder."

"Hello!" said Pansy fairly loudly. "We are here you know."

"Pans are you ok?" Draco asked, when he noticed the marks on her face. Her cheek had scraped across the floor when she fell. It was actually the wound that hurt least.

Harry pulled the next bandage tight. The blood was still soaking through them, and Harry was doing his best to keep pressure on the wound. "Hold still Draco," he said, and wrapped a strip of cloth around Draco's chest to keep his arm from moving.

"Just a few scrapes and bruises," she said. "None of my ribs were broken, and I'm sure I'll be fine. It's you we're really worried about."

"The next time I see that Weasel I'll make what he did to me look like a paper cut," growled Draco.

Hermione sat cross legged with her head down. Her bushy hair was hanging in her face. She was shaking, and looked close to tears. Harry tied the last bandage, pulling it tight.

"You won't be able to use that arm," he said, double checking his work. He turned and pulled Hermione over to him. "Mione, want to talk in private?" he asked softly.

Hermione shook her head, but pulled Harry closer and began to cry on his shoulder.

"How could he do this?" she sobbed. "The Ron we know would never do something like this. Never! How come we never realized?"

"No great loss if you ask me," said Draco snarkily.

Theo gave him a dark look, and he had the courtesy to look embarrassed.

Hermione's tears soaked into Harry's robes, and her eyes felt red and raw. Her heart felt like it was breaking. It hurt more than anything she could imagine. Harry was rocking her, and whispering soft noises of understanding.

"Look, Gr-Hermione," Draco stumbled over the name. She was so surprised to hear him address her by her first name that she looked up. "I don't think it was his fault."

"Not his fault?" she asked disbelievingly. "I'd love to believe that, but why wouldn't it be his fault? He wasn't under polyjuice or imperio

"Well, not that I care what happens to the Weasel, but I've been thinking, and there seems to be something about the poison they gave us that eats away at people," Draco said.

"Eats away at…?" asked Pansy. "That doesn't make any sense. Anyway, how would it explain what Ron did?"

Draco looked away. He didn't want to admit that there was anything wrong with him. "I can't lift anything heavy, and I think it's getting worse. I couldn't help Harry carry Susan back here. I can't even lift her. I don't know if I could lift the cauldron" He waved his good arm toward it.

"You can't anyway since your arm's in that sling," said Harry. "Anyway, you aren't the only one weird things are happening to. My magic seems to be weakening."

"And you didn't say anything before?!" said Pansy in frustration. "What if you can't transfigure everything we need?"

"I didn't realize it before," he explained. "I thought it might be lack of food or overuse, or something, but Draco's explanation makes sense." Harry slumped in his seat. He had been betrayed by his best friend, and was losing one of the most important things in his life. If things kept on like this, surviving wouldn't be worthwhile. "I've got about half the ingredients done. I was working on the rest when this happened."

"Anyway," Draco said, returning to his explanation. "I think it turns your strengths and desires against you. Weasel wants to protect you two. Admirable true, but not so much when it turns into paranoia. I think her," he pointed toward the spot where Susan lay with Hermione's robes draped over her. "Problem is that her Hufflepuff loyalty can't handle having to betray her friends, or watching as they betray her. Harry's magic is what's most important to him, hence he's losing it."

"What's the reasoning behind yours?" Harry asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. Draco's assumptions seemed to be on the mark.

Draco glared. "I don't think you need to know that."

Harry shrugged. "Ok, well, I need to get the rest of that stuff transfigured before I'm unable to do it at all." He grabbed the remaining plants, and looked down at them carefully. Hermione had pulled herself together and was quietly sitting next to him. She and Pansy walked back over to Susan hoping to pull her out of her shell.

Harry went to transfigure the next item. He concentrated, and smiled when the transfiguration worked. Then his head began to spin, and he nearly collapsed. Theo caught him as he was about to fall to the side. Draco positioned himself behind him on the ground, and wrapped his good arm around Harry's waist for support. By this time, Harry's world had stopped spinning. He looked down at the last item, and concentrated.

He was breathing harshly when he was done. Spots danced before his eyes, and he looked down to see what had happened. In front of him was a puddle of greenish-yellow goo that he couldn't identify. A feeling of despair welled inside him. Draco pulled Harry tightly against him, and gave him another piece to try again.

"Take a minute to catch your breath, and then try again," he whispered into Harry's ear.

A shiver ran down Harry's spine when he felt the warm breath whisper by his ear. "Stop distracting me. I know you're doing this on purpose."

"Maybe," Draco whispered once more. "Or maybe I'm just trying to help you relax."

"Since when have you been so seductive?" Harry asked with a grin, thinking that only hours ago he couldn't get within two feet of the prickly blonde.

"I'm warming up to it," Draco replied, this time leaning forward to kiss Harry's neck.

"Stop that." Harry frowned down at the last item. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, and hoped for the best. Feeling the magic take hold, he looked down to see it had worked before fainting for the second time that day.

"No more magic for you Harry," said Draco softly, running his fingers through Harry's dark wild hair.

Theo shook his head, amazed at how good they seemed to be together. "You two are so sweet it's making my teeth hurt," he said, and walked over to where Pansy and Hermione were.

Susan started whimpering and pulling away when she saw him coming closer. "Justin no!!" she screamed.

"I think we can assume that Finch-Fletchley is someone to watch out for." Pansy said.

"Betrayed by her own housemate," Hermione said sadly. "I know how she feels. It must have broken her mind."

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	11. New Conclutions

Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**-New Conclusions-**

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**Disclaimer: ** Not mine! Not mine! Not mine!

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"Hermione, what goes into the potion next?" asked Harry. He had been given the job of carrying ingredients because they didn't trust him near the potion. Pansy chopped and Draco mixed them in the cauldron. Hermione stood nearby, and gave step by step instructions. Theo was standing off to the side, and keeping watch.

"What's next?" asked Pansy looking over at Hermione.

She opened her mouth and then closed it again. Crunching her brows together in concentration, she finally whispered, "I can't remember."

"Hermione…" Harry said softly, realizing what was happening.

"Quick, ask me something! Anything!" She asked, in a panic.

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Draco interrupted. "We don't have time to play 20 questions. Give me the list we made earlier before the whole potion is ruined."

Hermione pulled a wrinkled piece of parchment and thrust it forward. Pansy grabbed it, and started slicing up ingredients.

"Hurry up Pans," said Draco impatiently his eyes focused on his work. "We need to add the next one now!"

Hermione had started sobbing.

"It'll come back Hermione. Don't worry. When we get out of here everything will go back to normal," said Harry. He was on his way to comfort her when they heard someone coming.

Theo looked around warily, trying, but it was too dark, and the light from the fire made it harder to see.

"Of course," said Draco in realization. "Everyone can see us for miles with the fire going. I can't believe we were that stupid."

"Like we had any other choice," Harry told Draco. "Hermione, stay here with Pansy and Draco. Keep an eye on them and make sure that nothing happens to the potion. I'm going to go help Theo." He picked a stick up off the ground. He swung it around like a baseball bat, testing the grip.

"The potion's almost done. I'm going with you," Pansy insisted.

"That potion is more important than anything else, so stay here, and guard it."

"Don't presume you can tell me what to do, Potter," she said with a glare. "You're not our leader, so don't act like it."

"Fine, do what you want. I can't stop you anyway."

"Fine," said Pansy. She wasn't happy.

The group watched at Justin Finch-Fletchley entered the clearing from the right. His bow was cocked and ready, and he was swinging it from side to side, his eyes wild. Theo could tell that he didn't recognize any of them. His fingers were letting go of the string when Susan screamed. Theo jumped. It was only luck that the arrow hadn't been launched at one of them. Justin looked at her, and turned the bow so it was trained directly at her. She cringed away and tried to curl herself into an even smaller ball.

Justin was from her house in Hogwarts, Draco thought, and was probably closer to Susan than anyone else on the island. A flicker of recognition flickered in Justin's eyes when he saw her, but it was gone so quickly that his bow didn't even waver.

Theo stood nearby, uncertain what he should do. If he moved forward to try and stop him, there was a very real chance that his finger would slip and the arrow would go right through the whimpering girl. In the direction he was aiming, there was no way he'd miss.

While Theo's internal debate was going on, Pansy gave Draco a look, and nearly invisibly tipped her head toward Justin. Draco nodded and picked up the knife. Unidentifiable green and brown residue was still stuck to it. Hermione probably could have identified it if she was at her peak performance.

The two Slytherins moved forward in unison. Pansy pushed Justin's arms upward in a quick hard shove. Justin twisted to look at her, but before he could turn to face her Draco's knife buried itself between his shoulder blades. The arrow was released into the night sky, and Justin fell to the ground nearly impaling himself on his bow.

Harry ran over, his face a mixture of anger and concern. He grabbed Draco by the elbow and spun him around.

"What did you think you were doing?" he asked harshly. "I thought I told you to stay by the potion."

Draco stiffened at the tone of Harry's voice, and replied with a sneer. "What's wrong Potter? Since Pansy refuses to let you boss her around you've decided to move on to me?" He started to walk away, but Harry grabbed his arm. "Release me," he hissed. "I may not be up to beating the crap out of you, but I'm a Slytherin. I can come up with a dozen ways to make you suffer without touching you at all."

Harry loosened his grip on Draco's arm and the blonde walked away. His shoulders slumped in defeat. Draco could have been hurt! Didn't he realize that? He looked over to where Justin's body lay. Blood was pooling under him, and sinking into the grass. Harry looked over to where Draco stood by the fire without a spot on him. Only Draco could stab someone, and still keep his clothes spotless. He was so beautiful. Harry had watched the whole encounter in horror, unsure if trying to help would do more harm than good. Only the perfect timing of the two Slytherin had prevented anyone from being seriously injured.

Harry realized that his response had been pretty harsh. His only excuse was that watching the whole encounter had scared the hell out of him. In any case he owed Draco a bit apology. He hadn't meant to sound like such an ass. Walking over to Draco he started to apologize. Draco ignored him completely, and turned his back to Harry whenever possible.

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered. "I didn't mean it like it sounded. I was just worried you might have been hurt."

After a moment Draco turned to face him. Softly he said, "Harry, you need to trust me to be able to make my own decisions. You don't have the right to stop me from doing what I want, so don't act like you do."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Yes, you did."

"I'm sorry. I just don't want to see you get hurt." Harry looked down at his feet, unsure of what else he should say.

Draco slid his hand over the brunette's cheek, lifting his face so that Harry's eyes met his. "Don't do it again."

Harry nodded, but didn't say a word. He pulled Draco closer and dropped his lips onto the other boy's. It started off gently, in an unspoken apology, but swiftly heated as the world around them slipped away.

Draco wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him as close as he could. Harry threaded his fingers into the blonde's hair, pulling it out of place. He looked so adorable tousled with his lips red from kissing. The kiss deepened, and pale, delicate fingers roamed over any bare skin they could find before making their way under Harry's shirt. Harry trailed his lips down Draco's neck, licking and sucking as he went. A soft nibble at the base of his neck and he moaned tilting his head for more. Their hips pressed even tighter, rubbing against each other needily. Harry could feel the hardness in Draco's pants pressing against him, just as Draco could feel his. They moved against each other, searching for the release they knew was coming.

Pansy and Theo turned around politely when the boys started kissing. Hermione stood and stared, transfixed by the sight in front of her. She didn't know what shocked her more, the fact that her best friend was kissing a she hated for years, or that they actually looked quite hot doing it. Pansy took her by the shoulder, and turned her around.

"Give them some privacy," she said quietly. "They won't be able to get much more of it."

Minutes passed and the moaning was getting louder behind them. "We better stop them before they start going at it on the ground," said Theo

"Yeah, Draco would hate to get his robes dirty," Pansy smirked.

Theo grinned in response. "Or the front of his pants either."

Hermione quickly covered her ears. "I don't need to hear that stuff you know. Harry's my best friend. He's like family! It's like watching your parents do it."

"You were staring earlier," Pansy countered.

Hermione shook her head in denial. "I was not. I was just…surprised."

"Yes you were," Theo put in. "You seemed pretty interested."

"Was not."

"If you weren't then why are you blushing?" asked Pansy.

Hermione blushed even harder and looked away.

They headed back to join the two boys when they heard a noise. It was the same noise they had heard when Justin had stumbled across them, and they tensed.

Harry and Draco were quite engrossed in each other when they heard it. Harry pulled away. The sound was getting closer and closer. He stepped in front of Draco, shielding him with his body. Normally Draco would have complained, but right now he didn't even notice. He was too busy trying to adjust his trousers and muttering about 'damn interruptions'.

All of them were ready when Seamus came stumbling out of the woods. Harry smiled in recognition, and went to walk toward him when Hermione grabbed his arm. She didn't say anything, but he stopped and realized that it was very likely that Seamus wasn't himself.

The Gryffindor was looking around wildly. He didn't have the darkness in his eyes that Justin had, but there was something still something different about him. He held a large sword in front of him. It was positioned across his chest, and strangely enough Harry was reminded of an avenging angel he had seen in a storybook once. What frightened him most however, was the blood that dripped down the blade and onto the ground.

"Seamus?" Harry said cautiously.

The Irish boy turned to look at him. "Harry," he said sadly. "I was hoping you'd have gotten away from here. This whole place is a death trap you know. We're all going to die in agony as the poison works its way through our bodies."

"We're going to get away, Seam," Harry said, and approached him slowly, as if he was moving toward a wild animal. "We are," he nodded emphatically "We have a plan. We made this potion, and it'll be ready in a minute or two, and we're going to see what's in our blood-"

That seemed to be a bad thing to say. "Harry," Seamus interrupted. "I'm going to have to put you out of your misery. I'm truly sorry about this. We've been friends a long time, and it hurts me to do it, but you'll be glad later. I'll be saving you from the pain you'll go through when the poison takes over. I saved Lavender you know. She was dying right in front of me. I saved her and now she's at rest. God will take good care of her."

"I'm not going to die," said Harry angrily. "Stop spouting that bullshit. You're just trying to run away."

Seamus didn't even hear him, and moved forward. His sword was raised, and Harry hadn't even seen him lift it.

"WAIT!" yelled Harry. "Don't do this Seam. You don't want to do this. It's us, Harry and Hermione," he pulled her closer, but still kept her protected. "We're your friends."

Seamus's arm paused, but then he noticed Pansy and Draco. "You've already been corrupted," he said. "You're with them." He pointed toward the Slytherins.

Harry rushed forward while he was distracted, and knocked Seamus onto the ground while dodging the sword. He straddled his waist, but the constant squirming and struggling made it hard to keep him still. Pansy kicked the sword out of his hands and Theo sat on his legs, which were kicking violently.

"Go get the rope," Harry yelled. "Hurry!"

Draco quickly retrieved it, and tossed it to Harry.

"How are we going to do this?" asked Theo. "There's only one rope."

"Tie his hands to his feet," suggested Hermione. "Wrap the rope around his body once so that he can't get free too easily. It should also stop him from moving around too much."

They got his feet tied, and twisted the rope around his body. It hadn't been an easy feat. Seamus fought them every step of the way. Then Harry and Theo each grabbed an arm, and pushed them toward each other. Seamus was twisting and pulling to keep them apart, but even with his violent twisting they managed to do it. Pansy quickly tied the rope around his wrists before he could yank them apart again.

Hermione checked Seamus for weapons. The few she found were placed in the cabin out of reach. They left him lying on the edge of the clearing. It was time to try the potion.

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	12. Poison Running Through My Veins

Chapter 11

**Chapter 12**

**-Poison Running Through my Veins –**

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**A/N: **I've taken **lots** of liberties with the spells in this chapter to make things flow with the plot. Sorry! (Ok, maybe not _that_ sorry) Chapter title is from the lyrics of Poison, by Alice Cooper.

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**Disclaimer: **If they were mine I wouldn't be so poor!

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The group of them moved toward the cauldron when they heard a bunch of swearing and yelling behind them. Seamus was struggling against the ropes, and making all the noise he could.

"Someone gag him quickly," hissed Draco. "Before the whole island knows we're here." He looked over at the Gryffindor. A smear of dirt creased his forehead, and his robes were covered in leaves. A scrape on one cheek was bleeding slightly. He was glaring at them; any remaining sympathy was long gone. "Just a suggestion Finnegan, if you want to try and escape, it's usually a good idea to be quiet when you do it."

Hermione looked down, feeling guilty. Maybe if they had tried harder to get across to him, it wouldn't have worked out this way. She watched him struggle and he gave her the same furious look he had given Draco earlier.

She moved closer to him and crouched down. "Seamus, I know it's still you in there. Come back to us. We could use your help getting free."

He swung his body and lashed out at her. He aimed for her head, but Theo pulled her back quickly pulling her off balance. She fell onto the ground, but it was the only thing that saved her from a nasty bruise on the side of her face. Seamus wiggled toward her on the ground, attempting to hit her again. His hands and feet might be tied, but if he could hit her with his head or feet he would.

"Thanks," Hermione said, gasping, and she moved away from Seamus quickly. It saddened her to see that the lighthearted friend she remembered from Gryffindor tower had been reduced to this, and she wanted to cry.

Theo helped her up. "Be careful," he said letting go of her hand somewhat reluctantly. "You have to remember that he's not himself," he tried to reassure her. It wasn't easy to watch all their classmates destroying each other, even if the poison was causing it. "Don't worry, we'll get him back. Ron too, even if he was an ass." He winked.

"Don't give up Hermione," said Harry from behind her. "We'll get free. I know it. Then we'll be able to get everyone on this island back to normal. They won't break us so easily. After all we have some of the best minds working on a solution, don't we?" He smiled at Hermione, and then at Draco.

"And don't you forget it Potter," said Draco from where he stood next to the cauldron.

After a valiant struggle, Seamus admitted defeat. He lay on the ground like a dead fish, and panted. The ropes that bound him tightened and he had managed to squirm his way into a very awkward position. He given up on yelling, but no one was willing to suggest taking the rag out of his mouth.

All of them walked over to the center of the clearing. Hermione gave Seamus a sympathetic look, but kept her distance. The potion had finished brewing, and the atmosphere hummed with tension. Draco filled the two vials carefully. He had found them inside the cauldron after Harry transfigured it. His face was a calm mask, but his hands were shaking.

Harry, of course, in a typical display of Gryffindorism insisted that they use his blood to test the potion. The rest of them insisted that he didn't. Theo thought either Seamus or Susan should be the guinea pig for this, but the idea was scrapped when they realized that getting a drop of blood out of either of them without spilling the potion might be difficult. Eventually the choice was narrowed down to Pansy and Theo, because they seemed to be the least affected. 'Less contamination of the normal blood flow' Draco had said.

In the end it was Pansy who they took blood from. She poked the tip of her finger with the dagger and carefully let one drop of blood fall into the vial. The vial produced a soft 'poof' and smoke drifted out of the vial and began to form letters. It listed everything in her blood, down to salts, and proteins. Draco jotted down everything that that was unusual on their battered piece of parchment. He was writing down the last ingredient when the smoke disappeared.

Hermione watched the ingredients fade away. She tightened her hands, her nails digging into her palms so tightly that they nearly bled. Even if they didn't have the ingredients to counter it, she knew that she had known once, and it scared her more than anything.

Theo put a hand on her arm and smiled. The look on her face seemed so hopeless. He'd make sure they got out of here just to get that look off her face. She smiled back at him glad to have his support.

Pansy and Draco were trying to come up with a short list of potions ingredients that could counter the ones in their blood

"It'll be hard to find a counter-ingredient to that one," Pansy said pointing toward the center of the list at a smudged word.

"Yeah," sighed Draco. "And this one was added to make it even stronger." He pointed toward the one under Pansy's. Moving his finger to the bottom of the list he added, "I think this is the one that's affecting everyone's personalities."

Theo walked toward them. He was wearing his dragonhide gloves and holding a vial in his hand. The others watched as he put it down near the cauldron.

Pansy looked at him. "What's on your mind?" she asked.

"I think we should test this as well. It might come in handy if one of us is ever splashed with it."

Draco nodded, in agreement and motioned toward the remaining vial of revealing potion

Holding both the poison carefully with his arms outstretched Theo let one drop fall into the revealing potion. He moved back quickly in case anything splattered. They stood silently and waited for the potion to do its work and reveal the ingredients of the poison. Another swish of air and the list appeared in front of them. Draco was set to write them down when he realized they were the same as the ones they already had listed when they used the potion on Pansy.

Hermione had noticed the same thing. "The liquid in the vial must be more concentrated," she commented. "If it wasn't we'd be dead already."

"It doesn't matter," said Harry. "We won't find an antidote here. What we need to do is find a way out of here and fast before time runs out. Hermione, you and Pansy get Susan. Theo and I will carry Seamus. Draco, you'll need to keep an eye out for anyone nearby."

"What about the weapons?" asked Hermione.

Draco looked at their rapidly growing pile of weaponry. "We'll carry as much as we can and leave the rest. Too much weight or too many obstructions and they'll be a liability. You'll have to leave the solution Theo," he added. "It'd be too easy to spill."

Theo nodded and helped Harry hoist Seamus off the ground.

"Does anyone know where the wards are?" asked Hermione. This earned her a chorus of 'no's'"

"We'll go that way," said Harry, pointing in a random direction.

They took a step in the direction Harry had indicated, then another, and another, until soon the small hut was out of sight.

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A/N: Sorry this chapter ended up being so short! My muse said this is where I had to end it, and wouldn't be denied.

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	13. A Moment of Freedom

Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**-A Moment of Freedom-**

They stopped when they reached the ocean. The sun was rising and blue waves lapped against the horizon. Pansy sighed in despair.

"Now what?" she asked.

Theo looked out at the water. "I don't know about you, but I'm hot after all that walking, and this guy isn't a lightweight, so I'm going to take a dip in the ocean." He dropped his half of Seamus's weight, leaving Harry staggering as he tried to balance the rest.

"I'm going to take my clothes off. I don't' want to have to walk around in damp clothes when I'm done," said Theo.

"If we don't find a way out, that's going to be the least of your problems," drawled Draco.

"I better enjoy myself now then shouldn't I?" He was striding toward the water's edge when he ran into something solid. A ripple formed in the air, and he fell backward. Hermione ran forward to help him up, and fell on top of him when she also ran into the wards.

"Uh..Sorry about that," she said, blushing.

"It's ok." Theo helped her up, trying not to bang into the wards again.

"Well, I guess we found out where the island ends," said Harry. "Now how do we get to the other side?"

"There's no point in trying to get past them if we can't get off the island. What do you think? That we're going to swim to safety? I bet you'll want to take those two liabilities with us as well. Maybe we should build a boat before we go? After all, we only have, what, Five hours to do it in? It should be no problem."

"That's enough, Pansy," said Draco. Harry was looking off in the other direction, not wanting to meet her eyes. He knew he expected a lot. He wanted to get off this island, and was willing to do whatever was needed.

"You don't even know that this is an island," said Draco. "We could be in the middle of England, and this is all an elaborate illusion." He waved his arm around the spectacular view.

"Well, they definitely did a good job on it. It's so nice, I might not even mind dying here," Hermione joked.

Harry looked around. Seamus was lying on the beach, and sand was no doubt making its way into his underwear. That must really suck, thought Harry. At least it got him to stop moving. Susan had her knees pulled up to her chest, and was leaning against a nearby palm tree. She looked a bit more relaxed, if that was possible. Watching the sunrise must be doing her good.

"So, what now? We can't disable the ward, and we can't go through it. What's the grand plan now Harry?" Pansy asked bitingly.

Draco looked over at her and frowned. "What's with you? You've been getting downright nasty. That isn't like you."

Pansy covered her mouth with her hands in horror. "It's starting isn't it?" she whispered.

"It looks like it," said Hermione and wrapped an arm around her comfortingly.

"I could hurt someone," she gasped. "You need to do something. Tie me up, keep me from the weapons, have someone guard me. Anything!"

"There's not a lot we can do. We'll keep an eye on you though," said Theo. "We won't let you hurt someone. Not even yourself."

"Hermione," asked Harry. "Do you know if the tunnel to Honeydukes is warded?"

"Harry, I'm not sure what tunnel you mean. I remember something…but…" Hermione paused, and took on a pensive look. "I don't think you can ward underground," she concluded a bit uncertainly.

Harry hugged Hermione. "That's our way out then." Hermione looked as confused as the rest of the group.

"Great," said Draco. "We can get out. Now why don't you explain what the hell you're talking about."

"There's a tunnel that goes underneath Hogwarts. It goes from the humpbacked witch on the third floor and makes its way to the cellar of Honeydukes. We should be able to make a small tunnel under this ward to escape."

"We don't have much time," Theo said hesitantly. "It would be a lot of work."

"We'll have to take turns digging and moving the soil."

Pansy snorted. "And what happens if we drown Potter? What then?" Realizing what she said she slapped her hands over her mouth once more and whispered "Sorry."

"It's ok," said Harry with a smile. "We don't have a lot of options right now. This is the best I can come up with. We can't sit here and wait for someone to save us.

"If we do drown at least we'll have tried," said Draco who shuddered at the idea of getting his robes dirty. If he was willing to damage his robes to escape the others shouldn't have any problem with the endeavor. "If we just sit here we'll die for sure."

"Do you think we can do it in less than 5 hours?" asked Theo. "We'll need to find a way to shore it up."

"I know we can do it," said Hermione positively and she smiled at Theo.

He took her hand and squeezed it gently in support. "Let's get to it then," he said, and smiled back at Hermione. She blushed.

"I'll give them a week before they're standing in a hidden corner in Hogwarts with their tongues down each other's throat," whispered Harry to Draco, who was standing right beside him.

Draco slid his arm around Harry's waist and pulled him close. "I'll be amazed if it takes that long."

"What are you waiting for, you slowpokes?" said Theo enthusiastically running toward the ward.

"Well that got him going at least," grinned Draco. Then he looked over at Pansy who had a dark look on her face, and his smile faded. "We'd better hurry," he said and quickly walked toward the wards.

They dug their way under slowly, taking the sand and dirt, and moving it a good distance away so it wouldn't slide back into the tunnel. They were using Susan's robe to drag it off to the side. It was hot sweaty work, and they were all tired. Even Draco, who managed to stay immaculate in the worst of conditions, had dirt smudged on his face, and matted in his hair. All of them had removed their robes, leaving them piled in on the beach.

Pansy was the only one not covered in dirt. She sat on the edge of the beach, away from everyone, her fists clenched in her lap. Her nails were digging into the palms of her hands, as she struggled to stay lucid. Harry and Draco looked over at her. The palms of her hands had started to bleed, and she wouldn't last much longer. They would need to work faster.

The hardest part of the job was keeping the roof from caving in as they tunneled. The sandy soil didn't want to stay in place and started dropping to the ground in soft clumps as it dried. They did their best to brace it with branches and leaves, but dirt was still shaking down on them. Hoping it would last long enough to make it through they kept working. Finally Hermione broke through to the other side. The tunnel would still need to be widened, but they had managed it! It was only about five feet long, tight and dirty and barely wide enough to crawl through, but to them it was a masterpiece.

Seamus and Susan were the hardest ones to force through the tunnel. Susan refused to get anywhere near it. Hermione had to drag her through by her clothes, and for a moment they debated tying her up as well before she brought the roof down. Once she was in, she stopped fighting, and let herself be dragged through. Seamus wasn't so easy. He had to be untied so he could wiggle through. They tied the rope around his middle, and Theo pulled carefully from one end while Harry pushed him forward on the other.

At first they weren't going to take him. He was more of a liability than anything else, but Harry insisted. They softhearted and stupid Gryffindor in him Draco had said. Hermione looked at them both. Seamus would be a liability, but she couldn't bear to leave him. Once she had made up her mind, Theo refused to disagree with her, and that was the end of that.

Draco looked at Harry and said haughtily, "Leave him here. It's not worth the trouble to drag him along."

Harry looked resigned. "You know I can't just leave him. He's a good friend, but even if he wasn't, it's the right thing to do."

Draco wrapped his arms around Harry, and gently brushed his fingers through the dirty black hair. Sand sprinkled down to Harry's shoulder, but neither of them noticed. Looking deeply into his eyes, Draco said, "Please, Harry. Come with us and leave him. He could take down the tunnel in front of you, and then you'd be stuck here. I couldn't bear it if that happened. You'd die, love."

"I wouldn't die. I know you'd come back and save me." Harry leaned forward and wiped the smudge of dirt off Draco's cheek. His fingers were dirty too so it only ended up smearing the dirt around. It didn't matter though, because Harry wasn't looking at Draco's cheek, he was looking at his lips. Leaning forward, he kissed him. It wasn't a deep and passionate kiss like the ones they had shared before. It was full of promises and reassurance. Draco melted, and reluctantly gave in.

A little way from them, Hermione and Theo were having a similar discussion.

"We shouldn't be risking Harry this way, Hermione. I don't think you should let him do this."

Hermione didn't take that very well, and said, "I'm not _letting _Harry do anything. He's perfectly capable of making his own decisions. He wants to bring Seamus across, and I happen to agree with him, so don't go making me the guilty party here."

"I'm sorry," said Theo and hung his head. He hadn't meant to sound like that, but he was worried about Harry too. "I didn't mean to make it sound like you were forcing him." He pulled Hermione into a hug.

She pulled back slightly and brushed some sand off his robes. With a laugh, she said, "We're all so dirty."

"It's just as well if we're going to be crawling through all that muck."

"It felt a lot cooler on the other side. I think this whole place is an illusion."

Fifteen minutes later Harry and Theo managed to drag Seamus through and tie him up again on the other side.

It was much cooler, as Hermione had predicted. Harry looked around and they seemed to be in England, although he didn't recognize the area. Draco was looking around nervously, and that couldn't be a good sign, thought Harry.

Hermione lay on the ground draped over Pansy. The Slytherin girl was moments from letting the emotions in her mind take over. She had gotten through the tunnel by pure stubbornness and force, but the tension created was causing her control to slide. Tired of fighting, she relaxed and let it. Hermione felt it. She scrabbled backward, and prepared herself for anything.

"Draco," she whispered with a nod toward Pansy. "Watch out."

Draco moved forward. As her longest friend, he had the best chance of getting through to her. Whispering her name softly, he offered her a hand up. Before she could take it, and sharp voice broke the silence.

"Draco, I see you made it out. I was sure you could. You are a Malfoy after all. I see you managed to exceed my expectations. You've brought us Harry Potter. I truly am impressed."

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	14. Sneaky Slytherins and Cunning Plans

Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**-Sneaky Slytherins, and Cunning Plans-**

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"_Draco, I see you made it out. I was sure you could. You are a Malfoy after all. I see you even managed to exceed my expectations. You've brought us Harry Potter. I truly am impressed."_

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Draco schooled his features into the familiar Malfoy mask. "Thank you Father. I managed to seduce Potter into accepting me into his little group. It worked perfectly. Gryffindors are so trusting," Draco smirked.

Lucius looked over at his son. "Seduction is a dangerous game to play, Draco. Make sure you don't get caught in its web. I wouldn't want to see you do anything _unfortuate_."

"Of course not Father."

Draco looked over at the Slytherin girl who had been his friend for as long as he could remember. "I'm afraid the potion is starting to affect Pansy rather badly. We'll need to get her the antidote soon." Draco was trying to stay cold and unaffected as he watched Pansy fight the poison inside her. His father would see any emotion as a weakness.

"You bastard Draco," Harry yelled feeling betrayed to his very soul. "You never changed at all did you?" he laughed derisively. "More fool me then, for expecting anything else from a Slytherin."

"What Potter? You didn't actually think I meant it, did you? All that crap about love and emotion. Acting so Hufflepuffish was making me sick." He pulled Pansy to her feet and held her elbow to tightly that his fingers were cutting off the circulation in her arm.

"How could you?" Harry asked softly. His hands curled into fists, and Theo grabbed hold of him before he could move. "How could you?!" he yelled.

Draco's hand twitched and something flickered in his eyes. Stiffening, before it was noticed, he stood even straighter, and moved his hand, so it was on a different place on Pansy's arm.

Pansy turned and looked at the Gryffindors and gave them a superior smile. "I've, - We've –," Pansy stumbled over the words. "Been on the Dark Lord's side all along. He'll reward us greatly for the information we're going to give him," she forced out the words of loyalty, when every part of her being screamed that everyone was out to get her. "I know you're just trying- "Draco's hand tightened around her elbow in warning. She took a few deep breaths and go hold of herself. Only a little bit longer she thought. She only had to hold everything together a little bit longer, before they'd give her the antidote. Lucius didn't seem to be any hurry however, and she bit her tongue to keep quiet. She was worried that if she said anything else she'd start bringing Lucius and Draco's loyalties into question, and that would be a very bad thing, a very bad thing indeed.

Hermione watched the whole encounter with some curiosity. If one simply watched everything unfold, it seemed like an emotionless confrontation between them and the Slytherins, but if she looked closely, looking for a deeper meaning into everything that happened, she saw there was more to it than met the eye. Draco wasn't as impassive as he tried to appear, and Harry's words had clearly affected him. Draco tightened his lips and clamped down on any emotion when he saw that Harry was still swearing at him. Theo was holding Harry in a tight grip. It was the only thing keeping him from running forward and punching Draco.

With a flick of his wand, Lucius flung a stunning spell at all three of them. Coldly he pulled Draco's wand out of his pocket, and handed it over to him. The two of them levitated the Gryffindors back toward the Manor.

They woke up in Lucius' dungeon. Seamus and Susan were lying in the back, one tied, and the other slumped just like they were when they crossed the wards. Harry didn't think Lucius bothered to stun them. Hermione walked over to Susan. Her eyes were closed, and she was taking short shallow breaths. Hermione placed two fingers against her wrist, and checked her pulse. It was erratic, and Hermione was worried. Seamus didn't seem to be much better, but Hermione didn't quite dare to get close enough and check.

She stood and turned to Harry. "They don't have much longer. We need to get out of here."

Harry grabbed the bars and rattled them hard. Letting it go, he pushed himself away, and gave the door a careless wave. "I'm open to any suggestions that will get us out of here."

"It won't be long before we're like that," said Theo unhappily as his eyes wandered over to Susan and Seamus. "I think the reason we've lasted this long is because we were the least affected."

"Easy for you to say," said Harry somewhat snarkily. "It didn't affect you at all."

"That we know of," he returned.

A door opened at the end of the hall, and they stopped talking.

"Potter," said Lucius coldly. "You seem to have the devil's own luck. The Dark Lord wants you kept alive until he can kill you himself. You'll be meeting him tonight. In his place I would have killed you as soon as possible, but he wants the honor of killing the famous Harry Potter falling solely to him. I won't bother giving you the antidote, since you won't live long enough to need it." Lucius gestured toward Hermione and Theo. "He also wanted those two kept alive. He seems to think that they'll be good for leverage. You are the savior after all. Anything to keep your friends safe. What an idealistic attitude. In case you don't think we wouldn't do it, I'm going to show you that we're serious. Those two don't look like they'll last long anyway." He motioned toward Susan, and Seamus.

Lucius raised his wand, and was halfway through the spell when Harry jumped in front of them mid-cast. Lucius swung his wand up quickly, and the ceiling cracked where the spell hit. "You don't think that will actually stop me do you?" he asked. With a second wave of his wand he cast petrificus totalis on Harry and levitated him off to the side. Harry was laying there frozen, unable to move when heard the door at the end of the hall open once more.

"Father?" called a voice from down the corridor. "I've been looking for you. Pansy is feeling better, and would like to talk to you. He stood with his arms down in front of him, letting his sleeves slide down and hide his hands.

"How could you do this to Harry?! We believed in you!" screamed Hermione. One corner of her mouth twitched up momentarily in a nearly invisible smile, but Draco caught it. Opening his eyes wide he pulled his arm away with a yank. "Don't touch me Mudblood," he sneered, and he quickly glanced over at Harry. It seemed that Hermione understood that deception was necessary, but Harry did not.

Lucius looked irritated by the interruption. "What does she want?"

"I'm not sure, Father, but she said she wanted to speak to you directly."

Lucius walked up the stairs while Draco followed. Pansy was lying on the bed in Draco's room. She was propped up on a pile of silk covered pillows, still feeling the effects of the antidote. Lucius walked in to the room and closed the door behind him, effectively shutting Draco out.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked.

Once Lucius had walked away, Hermione opened her hands. Draco had slipped her a handful of potion vials during their exchange.

Pansy swallowed nervously when Lucius walked into the room. Straightening her shoulders, she said, "I'm sorry to pull you away from your work. I wanted to ask if you could mention me to our Lord. I'd like to him in his quest. I know that he doesn't ask women to join him often, and that's why I was hoping you'd intercede for me. I also want to make sure our world is free of filthy scum like that mudblood girl"

"I can see you'll make a good addition to the Malfoy family." Lucius laughed. "I'll tell the Dark Lord of your desire to join him." He left the room in a swirl of robes that would have made Severus Snape proud.

Pansy sagged, and sighed in relief.

When Draco had suggested this mad plan it had taken a lot of convincing to make her go along with it. There were too many things that could go wrong. If he thought she was lying, she didn't have any doubts that he's kill her on the spot.

Lucius didn't go straight back down to the dungeon after his talk with Pansy. Instead he headed to his study, and made a firecall to the Parkinson household. A house elf answered it, and was speedily instructed to get the man of the house.

"Parkinson, I was just talking to your daughter," he said when the man's head appeared in his fireplace. "She tells me that she wants to become a Death Eater so she can keep an eye on my son. Did you know about this?"

"Are you sure it was Pansy who said that? My daughter isn't interested in politics or intrigue; she only wants to live the life of a pampered housewife. Much in the way my wife does. They're two of a kind I have to say." Parkinson sighed.

"I had thought there was something odd about the request," said Lucius, quietly tapping his lips with one finger.

"What's going on?" asked Parkinson. "Is she under imperious, or polyjuice?"

"I'll get back to you when I know more," said Lucius.

"My daughter will be alright won't she..?" Parkinson was asking. Lucius closed the floo on him mid sentence.

It was time to talk to his son; Lucius thought and exited his study.

Down in the dungeon Hermione was pouring potion down everyone's throat like it was the last drop of water in a desert. Harry's situation made his more complicated than most. "Do you think he'll be able to swallow it?" Theo asked.

"We're going to have to try anyway. None of us can take the spell off" Hermione looked over at him. "You lift him up just a bit, and I'll try to get the potion down him. If I can keep it from dribbling out the sides of his mouth, we should be ok."

Theo lifted him up, and tilted his head slightly, so he wouldn't choke. Hermione held his lips around the vial and slowly poured it down his throat. When it was gone, Hermione closed her eyes tightly and prayed that it had worked.

The petrificus spell started wearing off as Harry's innate magic returned. He sat up and saw Hermione sitting against the wall next to Theo. Susan and Seamus still seemed a bit groggy, but they were starting to get up as well.

"Do you think there's a way out?" asked Harry when he saw that everyone was nearly back to normal.

"Give Sue and Seam another minute and we'll try." Susan was looking a bit green, and Seamus was gasping at the realization of what had happened.

"Hermione, I'm sooooo sorry," he apologized over and over. "I can't believe I did those things. I was so horrible. I should be put in Azkaban." Seamus was so distraught that despite everything they had been through, Hermione went over to comfort him. He thought back to his stay on the island and paled drastically. "I think I killed Lavender," he whispered.

No one knew what to say to that.

Back up in Draco's bedroom he had joined Pansy on the edge of the bed.

"I don't think he bought it Dray," she said, looking at him nervously. "I'll kill you if something goes wrong."

"If something goes wrong, then you'll have to get in line," smirked Draco.

"How can you take all this so lightly?"

"What makes you think I'm taking it lightly?" Draco asked. "Now come on, we need to get going." He grabbed her hand and started to pull her downstairs.

They snuck down quietly. "The second step from the bottom squeaks," whispered Draco, when they reached the bottom half of the magnificent spiral staircase. On the way to the dungeon they head voices coming from Lucius' study. They couldn't make out any words and knew better than to sneak closer. Draco started to walk on by as carefully as he could when Pansy gasped.

"He's talking to my father. I recognize his voice."

"Are you sure?" asked Draco.

"Yes, I'm positive. I can't make out the words, but it's definitely him. We better hurry."

They made their way down even more carefully than before. They looked around every corner and listened through every doorway.

"Alohamora!" said Harry rattling the door in its frame. Swinging around to bang his fist against the stone wall to his left, Harry spit out a stream of curses.

"Language, Potter." A voice said from the darkness. "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Pansy stepped out in front of the cell.

"I wouldn't know now would I, Parkinson?" Harry spat angrily.

"Oh please," she said dramatically. "Get over yourself. Do you think you're the only one here who had a shitty childhood?"

Draco stepped forward. He had been standing in the darkness behind her. "As amusing as this all is, we really need to get going."

"You bastard!" Harry said angrily, and pulled Draco toward the cell by his robes. His face banged against the bars, and he winced.

"Harry…" he said quietly.

"Don't call me that," hissed Harry. "You have no right. Now, if you're done viewing the results of your hard work, get lost."

Harry pushed Draco away harshly, and he nearly fell.

Harry's magic started to crackle in the air around him, for the first time since before they were kidnapped.

Concerned, Hermione stepped up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't," she whispered into his ear. "He got us the antidote. He saved us all. He's been on our side all along."

"Don't tell me you believe that Herm. How can you trust him after everything he's done? I can't believe you'd fall for that trick again."

"I didn't fall for it _again_," said Hermione, who was starting to get angry. "It was never a trick in the first place."

"But…"

"He gave us the antidote!" hissed Hermione. "He saved our lives! If he hadn't acted the way he had all of us would be stuck in here, with no antidote, no hope, and no chance for escape.

Harry thought about what Hermione was saying, and realized she was right. All six of them would have been in that cell if Draco hadn't done what he did. "Sorry Draco," he said, meaning every word. "I'm sorry I didn't believe in you, and I'm sorry I was such a prat. I thought you betrayed me, and I wanted to make sure you were hurting as much as I was."

"It's ok Harry," said Draco, and a warm feeling burst inside him. "Now let's get you out of here."

"How?" asked Theo. "I thought that only your father had the keys."

Draco held them up and they clinked together. Choosing the right one he unlocked the doors. "They were hanging on a hook by the dungeon stairs," he said pointing into a darkened part of the room. "What kind of idiot leaves their keys out where just anyone can find them?"

"What kind of idiot indeed…" said Lucius as he appeared behind them.

Pansy and Draco were the only ones who had their wands. Pansy quickly shepherded everyone up the stairs, and into the hallway. Draco brought up the rear, firing a stunning spell at his father.

"Oh I am so screwed," he thought as they quickly made their way upstairs.

"This way," he said, leading them to the entrance. "Follow me, don't stop, and for god's sake don't touch anything!" he shouted as Susan reached toward a crystal vase sitting on a table. It had been made to be a container for magical energy, and it pulled the magic from anyone who dared touch it. With the correct spells the owner could add the magical energy in it to his own, but if he tried to remove it before the vase was full then it would take his magic, despite any protective spells.

They had made it to the entryway when Harry grabbed his forehead and fell to his knees.

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I'm willing to beg for reviews! Please give one to the poor lady sitting by the roadside with a pen in her hand!

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	15. The Beginning of the End

Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**-The Beginning of the End -**

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**Disclaimer: **This does not belong to me. I wish it belonged to me so I could do nasty things with Harry and Draco; Sadly I can only do it in fanfiction.

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with-a-flower-in-her-hair**:** Thanks for the review! I wanted to have it look like Lucius was keeping an eye on things from the outside. I guess I wasn't clear enough. _AHHHH_! Plot hole! 

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_They had made it to the entryway when Harry grabbed his forehead and fell to his knees. _

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Hermione realized what was happening at once. She shoved Susan and Seamus toward the doors, "Quick, get to Hogwarts and get some help!"

Voldemort entered the room from a dark corridor on the left. "When Lucius contacted me, I was certain he was lying," he said as he entered. "Lying to me is either a very brave or very stupid thing to do. I couldn't think of a reason he would do either so I came immediately. It seems everything he told me was true, right down to his blood traitor of a son."

He looked down at Draco, who was kneeling on the floor next to Harry. He was holding a handkerchief to Harry's forehead to stop the blood oozing from his scar.

"Now what should I do with you?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. "Maybe I should kill the Mudblood first." He pointed his wand at Hermione. Harry glared at him and started growling angrily.

"Oh, you don't like that? Well how about your blonde lover instead?"

"Don't you dare!" yelled Harry.

"My Lord," Lucius' cultured voice came from behind them. "I'd like the honor of carrying out my son's punishment."

The stunning spell must have worn off, thought Draco.

"Of course Lucius," Voldemort said in his icy voice. "He's your flesh and blood after all."

"Not any longer," said Lucius. "Draco, you are no longer worthy of being a Malfoy. By my blood as the head of the family, as of this moment you have been disinherited, disowned, and your name has been struck from the family tree."

Draco bent over clutching his chest. It felt as if a large hand had reached inside him and yanked. A cloud of smoke burst from his chest and dispersed in the air around him.

"…And now, I'm going to kill you," Lucius finished.

"Or maybe I'll kill you," retorted Draco panting. He wasn't going to give up so easily. "But either way I'll have the satisfaction of seeing the Malfoy line end with you."

Harry and Draco helped each other get up off the floor. Standing back to back, in a defensive position, Harry turned his head to whisper in Draco's ear, "Do you have my wand?"

"No. They were all in fath…I mean Lucius's study. I couldn't get to them. Will your wandless magic be enough for now?"

"Maybe, if we can stall for a few more minutes," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too hard. Voldemort loves the sound of his own voice. If we can get him started, he'll rant about everything from muggles to qudditch. I don't think Lucius will be put off so easily though."

"Leave that to me. I think I can keep him distracted."

"Until he kills you," smirked Harry.

"So nice to see you have such confidence in me," Draco grinned, and nearly laughed at the thought that he was able to find humor in the worst situations. "But I thought we'd try ripping each other to shreds verbally before doing it physically."

"Do your best, and I'll take it from this end. I'd kiss you, but I'd have to take my eyes off Voldie."

"Same here."

Their hands touched once briefly, before they each faced off against their opponent.

"Are you ready?" whispered Draco. They were running out of time.

"Just one more minute," begged Harry.

"I don't think we have one more minute."

"Enough of this mindless blather," Lucius said. He raised his wand, and aimed a hex at Draco.

"Quick," yelled Draco, "Dodge left!"

"Your left or my left?" asked Harry, as he ducked his head cautiously.

"EITHER!"

Draco threw himself to one side, and Harry landed right on top of him.

Draco struggled to get free. "Gerroff…" he said. "You're heavy."

"I bet you won't be saying that when we're in bed," Harry said jokingly. He looked down and lost himself in the beautiful silver of Draco's eyes.

Lucius and Voldemort were forced to dodge each others' spells.

"The only reason you aren't on the ground, and screaming in pain, is because I have other business to take care of," hissed Voldemort. He wasn't pleased that one of Lucius' spells had been aimed toward him, regardless of the circumstances.

Lucius was furious. How dare Draco humiliate him this way? The two would need to be split up. He raised his wand again.

"Hey Romeo," yelled Hermione. "Pay attention!" She picked up a heavy glass vase, and threw it at Lucius. It hit him squarely in the head, and he stumbled. It must have been a very heavy vase, thought Hermione. It didn't even break when it hit the floor. "You were right Draco," laughed Hermione. "Some things in here are dangerous."

Lucius recovered quickly; much too quickly in Harry's opinion. He cast another hex, which Draco just managed to block with protego. Gasping, he grabbed Harry's hand, trying to keep him close. "They're trying to split us up."

"We have no choice," Harry panted in return. His own battle with Voldemort was going much more easily than the one Draco was fighting against Lucius.

As Harry had told Draco earlier, the man, if he could be called that, loved the sound of his own voice, and it was throwing off his aim.

"Ah, Harry," he said grandiosely. "I've waited for this moment for a long time" he raised his arm to cast. The smile on his face scared Harry more than the movement of his wand. He easily dodged the first hex that was thrown his way. It had been aimed too far over to the left and he barely needed to move to avoid it. The next was much closer, and Harry dodged out of the way. He didn't want to let Voldemort know about his ability with wandless magic so he moved gracefully in an intricate dance through the maze of Voldemort's spells.

"You can't win Harry," Voldemort hissed. "You don't even have a wand, and neither do your friends. Give up, and I'll kill you all quickly."

Harry glanced over to where Theo and the girls were standing. Neither Theo nor Hermione had their wands, so Pansy stood in front and protected them from any miscast curses.

"I won't give up," Harry said stubbornly.

"Good. I love a long and painful death."

"I don't believe for a minute that you'd kill me quickly" Harry said.

"You're right," said Voldemort. "I wouldn't have." And he sent a spell flying across the room. His aim was off again, and Harry wondered how anyone could ever have thought that he was a powerful wizard. The majority of spells cast his way, easily missed. This spell headed directly toward Draco's back. Seeing it hurling forward, Harry, in a purely Griffindorish move shoved Draco out of the way, letting the spell hit him instead.

Unfortunately, Lucius had cast a hex at the same time, and it was flying toward Harry's unprotected back.

Draco scrabbled to grab his wand, and cast the strongest protego he could, and dissipated the curse.

"How dare you?" he hissed. It was one thing for Lucius to throw curses at him, but something else entirely for him to throw them at Harry.

"Harry lay crumpled on the floor, gasping as he tried to recover from Voldemort's spell quickly before he cast another one. Draco stood over him, and everyone in the room could feel his magic rising. Even the tiny grains of dust that the meticulous house elves overlooked were swirling around him.

Draco clenched his fists, and glared at Lucius. With an angry wave of his wand he cast the strongest impedimenta he could. Lucius flew across the room, and hit a mahogany shelf that displayed Narcissa's figurine collection. He broke his neck on impact, and fell to the ground in a shower of broken china. He sat slumped against the wall with his eyes open and, his head leaning in an unnatural position.

Harry struggled to his feet with Draco's help. He was clutching his shoulder tightly to stop it from bleeding where the cutting curse had hit.

"My, my, Draco," Voldemort said in a voice that sent shivers up and down Harry's spine. "You've lost me one of my finest lieutenants. I can't allow that." Voldemort raised his wand and cast. At that moment, Harry realized that Voldemort had only been playing with him during their duel. He shivered. Voldemort could have killed him at any time if he had wanted to. He had been playing with his prey like a cat plays with a mouse. The thought of it made Harry very uneasy.

"Crucio!" Voldemort said angrily, and Draco fell to the floor screaming in agony.

"Stop!" Harry yelled, and pulled Draco over, trying to keep him from thrashing.

"The look on your face alone, makes this worthwhile," said Voldemort, he sounded pleased with himself. "When he suffers, you suffer. I think I'll kill each and every one of your friends, before I get around to you. It'll make the whole experience that much more satisfying."

"You sick bastard," Harry said lowly. "I'll kill you if I have to do it with my bare hands."

After what seemed like forever, Voldemort ended the spell, and Draco stopped convulsing. Harry put Draco's head in his lap, and stroked the fine blonde hair softly as he glared up at Voldemort.

"Did you get off on that Tom?" Harry sneered. "I bet you did. I've felt what it's like when all the Death Eaters are crawling at your feet. Was Lucius your boy toy? Is that why you're so upset he's dead? I bet you took him up against a wall in the dungeon while other people's blood dripped off your robes…"

"ENOUGH!" yelled Voldemort. "How dare you speak to me that way?! Watch carefully Harry Potter, because this is the end."

Voldemort cast another Crucio, but this time the spell didn't hit its target. Instead it hit a shield that Harry had unconsciously created. The spell reflected back at Voldemort, and knocked him to the ground. He looked as surprised as Harry felt.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Harry quickly got to his feet, ignoring the muffled groan from Draco. Pulling a heavy looking sword off the wall, Harry ran over to a table in the center of the room. Holding the sword in front of him the same way he remembered Dudley holding his Lil' Slugger baseball bat, he yelled, "Hey Tom!"

Voldemort had just gotten back up, and hissed, "You will show me the respect I…."

Before he could finish the sentence Harry sent a vase hurling across the room with one swing of the sword. Voldemort caught it instinctively, and screamed when he realized what it was. It started pulling the magic from him with a loud sucking noise. He moved around in an awkward dance shaking his arms up and down, trying to release the vase. Everyone watched in shock as the magic was forcefully taken from his body.

The vase filled before it could take all of Voldemort's magic, but he still fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. He was breathing slowly, and all of his strength and energy were gone. The vase rolled off to the side, and Harry easily sidestepped it when he walked over. He placed one foot on Voldemort's chest to hold him down. Raising the sword he tried to keep his arms from shaking. He was holding it so tightly that his knuckles were white. Voldemort was still looking up at him, unable to move, so Harry closed his eyes and drove the sword down through Voldemort's skull. It buried itself in the marble floor on the other side, and stood straight up out of the ground like the headstone for a warrior's burial. Harry didn't bother to look at it. Instead he turned as quickly as possible, and went to join Pansy. She was sitting with Draco, and gently trying to wake him. Harry knelt down to help her. They buried him in so much attention that he would have taken advantage of it if he was awake like the proper Slytherin he was.

Across the room Theo was holding Hermione, and she was sobbing into his robes. She was usually very resilient, but the stress of the past two days had made her completely break down.

Just then the doors opened and Dumbledore walked in, and looked around. How come he always arrives just after everything is over? Harry asked himself with some irritation.

"Harry my boy," he said. "It looks like you've done it again. Congratulations."

Harry pursed his lips and didn't respond, not wanting to say something he'd regret.

Peering across the room, the aged wizard asked, "Is that Voldemort?"

"Was," replied Harry shortly. "And yes, it was. Watch out for that vase over there." He pointed over to where Voldemort had thrown it.

"Ah," said Dumbledore, stroking his beard. "The Vase of the Dementors, I'm sure they'll be glad to get it back.

"What happened?" asked Draco groggily. He had been lying in Harry's lap again, but now he was struggling to get up. Harry helped him into a sitting position, and moved so that Draco could lean back against him. Draco swallowed a groan. It felt like a herd of hippogriffs was running through his head

"Well," said Pansy. "Lover boy, here finally managed to off the Dark Lord. I'm sorry to say you were unconscious for the main show, but you woke up in time to watch the cleanup."

"What spell did you use?" asked Draco, looking over his shoulder at Harry.

Harry simply smiled enigmatically.

Pansy grinned. "He didn't use a spell. He pulled a Babe Ruth on us, and hit the Vase of the Dementors right at the Dark Lord using your Great-Uncle's sword. Then after most of his magic was gone, Harry shoved the sword right through his head, and scrambled whatever brains he had left."

Draco looked suitably impressed.

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**A/N:** **This is the last chapter! Only the epilogue remains!**

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Please review! I love reviews; they are like chocolate chip cookies. Mmm…

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	16. It all Ends Here

Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**It All Ends Here… **

Snape and Professor McGonagall managed to get an airborne antidote into the containment field in time. The students however, found that unlike the poison, the aftereffects of their imprisonment were longer lasting.

Voldemort was dead, and the wizarding world was rejoicing, but no one at Hogwarts could find a reason to celebrate. Many of them had lost friends during the kidnapping. Even worse, some like Seamus had found that not only was a close friend dead, but it was by his own hand.

Hermione had forgiven Ron, but any chances for romance between them had been destroyed.

"I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't' mean to hurt you. You know I'm not like that!" Ron begged.

"I know," said Hermione sadly. "And I do forgive you. Honestly I do, but no matter how much I try, I can't forget what happened. I want to be your friend, but I can't date you. I'm sorry Ron."

Ron started down at his feet. "I'm sorry," he whispered, and Hermione wondered if Ron was crying. Pulling him forward she hugged him tightly. Ron hugged her back and they realized that everything was going to turn out right after all.

Harry and Draco spent a few days in the hospital wing recovering. As soon as he could stand, Harry started pacing back and forth across the room. Madam Pomfrey shooed him into bed three times the first evening. By the second day, he couldn't stay in bed no matter what she said. After an hour of watching him, Draco walked over and pulled him to the bed. Straddling his waist he kissed the brunette deeply, tasting and touching him. He had just started grinding his hips into Harry's when Madam Pomfrey walked into the room. Harry sat up quickly and blushed.

"If you have the energy to be doing that sort of thing, then you're definitely healthy enough to go back to your dorms," she said.

Draco swore and mumbled something about 'damn interruptions'

A memorial service was held for those that died in Voldemort's game. A monument was placed on Hogwarts grounds, and listed the names of those that didn't survive. Ginny was given Neville's toad, and Parvati received Lavender's tarot cards. Once the service was over everyone got some closure, and the mood in the school lightened noticeably, and the students gradually slid back into their normal lives.

Despite everything that happened, Harry had to admit he was happy. Voldemort was dead, and Ron had survived. He was a bit more subdued, but he was still Harry's best mate. Best of all, Draco was his…lover? No, they hadn't gotten that far yet. Boyfriend then? That sounded strange to his ears. Anyway, the main thing was that they were together.

Most of the students that hadn't been taken were children of Death Eaters or their sympathizers. The ministry had the Death Eaters questioned under Veritaserum and the children were removed from Hogwarts. Most were from Slytherin, and Draco had confided to Harry that it was fairly lonely down in the dungeon now. He, Pansy and Theo were the only ones left in their year. Many students from other years were gone as well. After everything all five of them had been through the Slytherins ended up moving into the Gryffindor dorms. When they arrived they took the time to charm all the bed sheets, and curtains Slytherin green so that everyone would remember that they were Slytherins and not some reckless Gryffindors.

The year ended without any more disasters, for which Harry was grateful. The five of them, with the addition of Ron stood by the lake and watched the giant squid tease the whomping willow.

Theo was holding Hermione close to him. Harry and Draco's predictions had been right. The two of them started finding empty corridors to sneak into before they had been back a week. Theo looked down at Hermione. She was tucked up against him as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. They smiled at each other before turning back to the lake.

Off to the side, Ron and Pansy were talking quietly. As time had passed the two had gotten closer, and closer. Unlike the others, they understood what it was like to be at the mercy of emotions that couldn't be controlled. It had been a frightening experience for both of them, and they found solace in each other when the memories resurfaced. Harry and Draco, also had a bet going for when the two of them would get together Theo and Hermione added their guesses as well, but they all agreed that it would still be a while.

After a few minutes of watching the giant squid Harry and Draco snuck off. They stopped when they got to the Quidditch pitch and hid themselves under the stands. Smiling, Draco rolled over on Harry, and began removing his clothes.

"Finally, a spot with no interruptions," he said.

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Fin


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